Hitojichi
by 0roketto0kaigun0
Summary: Sergeant Tashigi of the marines is taken hostage aboard the Thousand Sunny... by Zoro? How will that work out? Eventual ZoroxTashigi Please R
1. Encounter

Um… so… this is my first fanfic… I won't upload more unless I get reviews to know that someone's following and stuff. Just so you know, I found that hitojichi means 'hostage' and I don't own One Piece, though I wish… hehe :3

Zoro ducked into the alleyway and watched a group of marines hustle past him, headed to find whatever of the Mugiwara crew that they could. It was time to go. He turned to check that no marines were tailing him, then broke into a run and headed towards the docks. He was proud of his ability to remember Nami's careful instructions. She had made it a point to grab him by the ear and poke a finger in his face as she said them. _"ZORO. DON'T FORGET. The docks are where the sun RISES. The town is where the sun SETS. You got that? The sun RISES in the WEST. It SETS in the EAST." _That's how Zoro remembered it. Fortunately, he happened to know where the west was. He ran towards the western part of the island, ducking between, stepping past, and in some cases, leaping over people. He knew Luffy would wait for him, but they couldn't risk someone almost burning their ship down like in Loguetown. Suddenly, it seemed, trees were rising up before Zoro. He slowed to a stop gradually and looked up at the trees, confused. "These aren't the docks," he muttered under his breath. He looked around. Everyone else seemed to know where they were. He sighed under his breath, then stopped and thought. Had he misheard Nami? Did the sun really rise in the west? He looked up just in time to see a woman with her back to him pointing out something on a map to a couple that looked tourists. He waited until she finished her conversation, and then stepped up to her awkwardly. "Hey, could you tell me where the docks are?"

"The docks?" the woman repeated, re-rolling her map. She didn't turn to look at him. "Well, you're out of luck if you think they're around here. They're on the other side of town!" She turned to him with a smile, but that smile immediately turned to a scowl.

"_YOU!_" Zoro's eyes widened. "Crap," he muttered, backing up a bit. Tashigi was grimacing at him like she always did. She went for her sword. Zoro, wanting to avoid another fight, searched for a way out that would buy him some time. Then he got an idea.

"Sorry," he said, and then he knocked her glasses off her head and ran. It wasn't long before she was tailing him, calling, "Stop! Roronoa Zoro, you're under arrest!"

"Sorry; I can't today," Zoro called back. He pressed on, heading for the ship as fast as he could. The marines would be there by now. He didn't have time to be slow. He ran straight through the town, shoving people out of the way. Tashigi had gotten faster. She was hot on his trail. Zoro dashed onto the first dock and spotted the Sunny at the end, already untied. Right alongside it was Smoker's marine vessel; its cannons were firing and Luffy was serving as the shield. Zoro ran down the pier and Luffy's head snapped around to him.

"Oi, Zoro! You made it!" he cried. Chopper came to the side rail with a rope and tossed it over the side for Zoro.

"Hey, what's happening!" Nami cried suddenly. Everyone looked to Smoker's ship. The cannons were suddenly extending. More and more were appearing in the hull out of little compartments. If all of these fired at once, the Sunny would not survive.

"Roronoa!" Zoro heard from behind him. But when Tashigi caught up, she slowed down, too, marveling at the change of Smoker's ship. Zoro thought quickly, then grabbed the rope and circled one arm around Tashigi's waist. She screamed instinctively as he threw her over his shoulder. Zoro ignored her and began to climb up the side of the ship. He jumped over the side rail and raced to stand before Luffy. Behind him, the rest of the Mugiwara crew exchanged confused glances, excepting Sanji, who grew hearts in his eyes and exclaimed, "My, what a beautiful lady!" Zoro put Tashigi down and turned her to face the marine vessel, holding her tightly by the shoulders. "Don't shoot!" he said firmly. "We've got your sergeant major!"

"We do?" Nami said quietly to Robin. "She's a sergeant?" Robin shook her head with a small smile. "I am surprised myself," she admitted. "She wasn't a formidable opponent."

"Who is that?" Luffy asked, looking at Tashigi over Zoro's shoulder. Tashigi squirmed under the pressure Zoro placed on her, but she couldn't move and was forced to look to the marine vessel, where Smoker stood, growling at the Mugiwara pirates.

"Hold fire!" he yelled to the gunmen. A nearby marine looked astonished. "B-but, Captain Smoker-…"

"Hold fire," Smoker repeated, crossing his arms. "What do you pirate scum want?" he asked through the cloud of smoke around him.

"Let us go," Usopp stepped in, getting Zoro's plan. "Or else we'll throw your sergeant overboard!"

"You'll _what_!" Tashigi screamed, glaring at Usopp. "You will _not_!" Usopp gulped and stepped back.

"She's scary," Chopper whispered. Zoro drew Wadou Ichimonji and held it threateningly before him, daring Smoker with his eyes.


	2. Day One

Thank you for the reviews! You made me all fuzzy inside hehe ^^ On to chapter two! Oh, and I don't know Franky that well, 'cause, well, I'm on US manga… so I'll try to use him the best I can! I'm not sure whether I should work Brook into it…

Smoker stared Zoro down intensively. "It's pathetic when pirates have to come to this," he growled, releasing a puff of smoke. "Go ahead and fire," he called to the gunmen. Tashigi's eyes went wide. "Captain Smoker!" she cried.

"Time to go," Luffy laughed. Just like that, the Sunny's sails dropped and Luffy used his miraculous stretching to block the cannonballs, aided by Zoro, who shoved Tashigi into Sanji to help out. Sanji was ecstatic, but the same couldn't be said for poor Tashigi. Somewhere in the confusion, Tashigi's eyes caught Smoker's. He was smiling, a very unusual thing for him to do. Tashigi knew now that he had a plan, and almost relaxed as Franky sailed the Sunny sailed away, leaving the marines in a smoky haze of cannonball dust.

When the Sunny had gotten far off from the island, everyone's attention seemed to turn to Tashigi, even Chopper's, who was "hiding" behind Robin. Luffy was the first to approach Tashigi. "This is gonna be fun," he giggled. "I've never held a hostage before!"

"Don't you _get it_, Luffy!" Nami asked, arms akimbo. "She's not _supposed_ to be our hostage; Zoro just pulled her into it without thinking! Don't you think Smoker _knows_ we're not going to hurt her! We don't do that to people!"

"Oh," Luffy realized, looking back at Tashigi and still grinning. "Well, either way, we've never had a marine on our ship before." Tashigi just glared at all of them.

"Don't worry, Tashigi," Robin said, walking up to the marine and offering a hand (a real one). "I promise, neither I nor any of the rest of us will harm you in any way."

"We're not those kinds of pirates!" Luffy giggled.

"As long as you don't cost us any extra money, you're welcome to stay," Nami agreed.

"This is SUPAAA!" Franky said from the back of the group. "I feel like a really for-real actual pirate!" Tashigi looked at Robin's hand and slowly grabbed it in her gloved one and shook it. "I'll make a pact with you for now," she said warningly, "but when Smoker comes for me, I won't hesitate to capture all of you."

"Ahh, you're so beautiful, Miss Tashigi!" Sanji cooed, ignoring the malice in her voice. "I'll make drinks to celebrate!" He danced away into the kitchen.

"Okay, so that was Sanji, the cook," Nami said, pointing after him. She pointed to Luffy. "As you know, this is Luffy, our captain. That guy there is Usopp, our marksman."

"Yes!" Usopp said with sparkling eyes. "But more like, Usopp, the Brave Warrior of the Sea! And as Luffy's close friend, I consider myself the co-captain!" Nami rolled her eyes and pointed to Chopper. "That's Tony Tony Chopper, our doctor." Chopper bashfully waved.

"Aww," Tashigi said, leaning down to look at Chopper better. "He's so cute!" Chopper blushed, but to Tashigi's surprise, he yelled at her, "Shut up! That doesn't make me happy at all!"

"That there's Franky," Nami went on, pointing to the cyborg. "He's our carpenter."

"Nice to have you on board, marine girl," Franky said, grinning. Nami gestured to Robin and Zoro. "And of course you already know these two. Nico Robin's our archaeologist and Zoro's the first mate." Tashigi's eyes met Zoro's. For a minute, she could've sworn a smirk passed over his face. She scowled at him. Nami exchanged a look with Robin and smiled mischievously.

"Dinner is served!" Sanji announced, dancing around the room and setting all the food out. Tashigi's eyes were as round as the plates her food was on as she stared at the massive pile of meat. Some of the Mugiwara pirates she could believe ate so much (Zoro, that pig), but she didn't see the need for so much food. But when Sanji announced that they could all eat, Luffy easily devoured half the pile. Tashigi was lucky enough to have Sanji save her a piece and drop it onto her plate delicately (he had called for a seat beside her). She picked at the food while she eavesdropped on Robin, who was sitting on her other side.

"Do you think Zoro did it on purpose?" she was asking Nami. The redheaded navigator grinned back. "Maybe not, but we know he'll grow to like it, huh?" The two laughed quietly. Tashigi raised her eyebrows and, finding something to do, removed her glasses from her jacket pocket and buffed them with the hem of her shirt. She raised them up to her eye level. "Oh, no," she said quietly. Over one lens, there was a large crack in the glass.  
"What is it, Miss Tashigi?" Sanji said, sounding concerned. "Is the food not cooked to your liking?"

"Oh…no, that's not it," Tashigi said, trying to look through her glasses. She winced. They were worse than she thought. "I broke my glasses."

"Surprise, surprise." Tashigi looked up to Zoro's voice and scowled again at him. Robin chuckled beside her. "What's so funny, Nico Robin?" Tashigi demanded. Robin smiled and answered quietly, "It's cute, this back-and-forth argument you two have. Sanji, may I have another drink, please?"

"Of course, Miss Robin!" Tashigi furrowed her brow and looked back to Zoro, who looked to be asleep in his seat. _Cute_?

Tashigi was made a place in the women's quarters to sleep. She eyed the bed for a moment, but oddly enough, she didn't feel tired. She didn't much want to listen to Nami and Robin whispering so much, either. Instead, she grabbed Shigure and headed onto the deck. The moon had only just risen and was already shining brightly. Tashigi leaned on the rail and wondered why the Mugiwaras were treating her so well. True, she _was_ a hostage by mistake, but… why were they so kind to her? After dinner, Usopp had immediately remarked that he could replace the broken lens in her glasses and had mended them before she could protest. Sanji was especially nice to her, and even Nico Robin was being polite. It just didn't make sense. She sighed as her thoughts then wandered back to Smoker's expression right before the Sunny had sailed away. He knew they wouldn't hurt her, yes, but how was he planning to come for her? The aftermath of those deflected cannonballs couldn't be pretty- how was he expecting to sail anytime soon? How long would it be before she would be rescued?

"This is all Roronoa's fault," she said out loud.

"Is it?" Tashigi spun around on her heel to see Zoro standing behind her, arms crossed with a playful smirk tracing his lips. "What did you expect me to do; let them destroy our ship? We just got this thing."

"You couldn't have at least thrown me into the water or something instead of sailing off with me!"

"Usopp already had that idea," Zoro pointed out. "You didn't like it, though." He eyed her for a moment more and muttered, "She wouldn't have, either." He looked down at Shigure, which was still clutched in her hand. She looked down at it, too, and then back at him. Her eyes narrowed. Zoro sighed. "No," he said firmly.

"Come on; just fight me! Why do you keep refusing!" She drew Shigure and pointed it at him fiercely. Zoro raised an eyebrow at her and then, in one movement, pulled Wadou into action and knocked Shigure from her hold and over the rail, catching it before it fell to the sea.

"You're holding your katana wrong," he said, sheathing Wadou. He handed Shigure to her and straightened her arms tightly with his hands. "You can to bend your arms at the elbows; you can't just go swinging around everywhere. And stop assaulting your opponent. Defend yourself first, and then attack. You have a lot to learn." With that, he let go of her and returned into the ship again, leaving Tashigi with more questions than ever and a feeling that her confidence had just been shattered.

The next morning, everyone greeted Tashigi like an honored guest, all except for Zoro, who appeared to be inattentive. Sanji served her breakfast very flashily and complimented her every other minute. This time, she was seated between Luffy and Chopper. Luffy had his face full of bacon and ham, so Tashigi's only hope for conversation was the small human-reindeer.

"So you ate the Hito Hito no Mi?" Tashigi repeated, taking a strip of bacon from the little meat that Luffy had left for the rest of the crew.

"Yup," Chopper answered, nibbling on his own piece. "I can talk to other animals, too. What can you do?" This question caught Tashigi off-guard a little bit. She chuckled.

"Well, I can use katanas," she said. "Not as well as Zoro can, apparently, but I'll get there. Someday." She stirred around the coffee Sanji had made and looked to eye Zoro again. He was no longer in his seat.

"Oh," Chopper said. "You must be good if you're aiming to be as good as Zoro." Tashigi wasn't sure if that was a valid compliment or not, so she didn't answer him and continued looking for Zoro, wondering where he had gotten off to.

"Alright, Tashigi?" Robin said. The marine snapped back to attention. "Oh, yes, I'm alright," she answered.

"Good," Nami said. "We need to talk to you about when you'll be leaving the Sunny. We don't know when you'll be leaving the Sunny at all. We have no idea." Tashigi had figured that. Luffy let out a massive belch and grinned childishly. "Don't be talking about when she leaves, Nami! We just got her yesterday!"

"Luffy, having a marine on a pirate ship as a hostage is _not_ a good thing," Usopp said. "Did you see how mad Smoker looked?" he shivered. A moment later, he stammered, "Oh, uh, not like I'm, you know, afraid of him or anything…" Tashigi wondered how gullible Usopp thought everyone was when Chopper gasped, "_You_, the brave Captain Usopp, afraid! You're never afraid!" She wondered if Chopper was being sarcastic, but the reindeer looked positively star struck.

"That's right!" Usopp declared, laughing. "I've never been afraid before in my life! In fact, once, when I was in a small dinghy being tossed around by the cruel, relentless, waters of the ocean, moments away from my fate to a swirling whirlpool…" Usopp continued to over-describe some obviously made-up adventure of his.

Tashigi quietly took the opportunity to leave, as had most everyone else but Usopp and Chopper. When she walked onto the deck, she found it surprisingly busy. Franky was repairing a damaged part of the ship near the observation tower. Nami was tending to her miniature tree grove while Robin lounged in a lawn chair. Luffy seemed to be having the most fun as he hung like a monkey from the foremast, holding in one arm a huge rack of meat and suspending himself right out of Sanji's reach. Sanji was busy yelling at Luffy to give the meat back to notice her entrance. Still, Zoro was nowhere in sight.

"The swordsman is in the crow's nest, if you're wondering," Robin said calmly. Tashigi looked to her with raised eyebrows, wondering how she knew who the marine was looking for.

"It was a lucky guess," Robin smiled secretly. "But, ah, be careful on the rope and the ladder, alright?"

"Um… thank you," Tashigi said awkwardly. _This is ridiculous_, she thought to herself as she climbed up to the crow's nest. _I should be with Smoker right now; nowhere near these pirates. And why do they treat me so well still? Why am I treating them so well?_ She knocked on the trapdoor to the crow's nest uneasily and listened. Inside, she could hear a faint clinking noise. She knocked again, harder this time. After the clinking stopped and somebody grumbled, the door opened and she was staring up at Zoro. He was sweating hard, but Tashigi didn't even notice until she tore her eyes away from the long scar on Zoro's bare chest.

"What do you want?" he said gruffly. Tashigi had forgotten. What did she want up here?

"Er… I just was wondering where you went at breakfast," she said. That sounded good, but she wasn't wholly convinced that was her plan… "Can I come up?"

"No," Zoro said. He began to close the door when Tashigi held it open with her palm.

"Those weights in the corner," she said, nodding to them. They were huge; bigger than Zoro's body altogether. "Do you lift those?"

"None of your business. Go away; I'm busy." With that Zoro closed the door on her and she was forced to climb back down. Halfway, Luffy swung over and grabbed onto the rope beside her. The rack of meat had disappeared, but she was sure after seeing the Mugiwara captain eat twice that he had devoured it. He giggled. "Hi, Tashigi!" he greeted with a wave. "How do you like being our hostage? I think it's kinda fun! So does Sanji!"

"Well, I… really, I'm surprised," Tashigi admitted. "Shouldn't you be treating me a little… I don't know, as what I am? Your enemy?" Luffy laughed.

"As long as you're aboard the Thousand Sunny, you're not our enemy!" he declared. The marine became confused for a moment. "Luffy, do you know what a hostage is?" she asked.

"Nope," Luffy said, still grinning. _And yet he refers to me as a hostage all the time._

"It's a person or thing that you take away from someone so that that someone will give you what you want. It's mostly for money." Luffy wrinkled his nose, again to Tashigi's surprise.

"For money?" he repeated. "This must be Nami's idea, then. I don't want to call you a hostage if you think it means I want money from Smoker. I can just call you Tashigi." _So the navigator's behind the whole operation_, Tashigi thought, stealing a glance at Nami on the deck below. She began to climb down again while still talking to Luffy, who followed her down. "Well, I'm not too thrilled to be a hostage," she said thoughtfully. "It would have been a good idea for the marines, you know. We could probably take in Usopp as a hostage, or Chopper." Luffy busted out laughing.  
"What's so funny?" Tashigi asked. Surely he knew that Usopp and Chopper had to be the weakest members of the crew.

"Well, no offense, but you could never take down Chopper or Usopp unless you were really careful," Luffy explained. "Chopper has the Rumble Ball, for one, and he can turn really huge and knock people out with one fist."  
"But we could take Usopp," Tashigi assured him.

"Ahh, I dunno," Luffy giggled. "Usopp can be a scaredycat, but he can fight alright. He's Sogeking! Oh, was I supposed to tell you that?" he wondered. Tashigi thought and decided that Sogeking was at least a reasonable opponent.

"Say, Tashigi, who do you like Zoro so much?"

"What? Oh-" Tashigi's foot slipped from its hold and she yelped. Luffy stretched out an arm and pulled her back like it was no big deal.

"Th-thanks," she said.

"So why do you?" Luffy said, leaning forward to see into her eyes past the walls of her glasses.

"I really don't," she insisted, continuing to climb downwards. "We're rivals." Luffy followed her until they again stood on the deck. "Nami and Robin don't think you are," he giggled. "I'm gonna go see if Usopp and Chopper want to go fishing. See ya later!" He ran off waving at her. Tashigi adjusted her glasses and looked up at the sky in thought. _Such strange pirates,_ she thought to herself. _A cyborg, a reindeer, the scaredycat Sogeking, a child captain, a former pirate hunter, a magnificent chef, a former Baroque Works agent and a former Arlong Pirate- what else can they do that I don't know about?_


	3. Bell Island

"Luffy, the next island isn't exactly what you would call 'pirate friendly'," Nami said to her captain, who was hanging upside down from the crow's nest and not paying much attention at all. "Maybe we should pick somewhere else to go. Say, the island after or so. The one we're going to now is pretty much- LUFFY, LISTEN!" Luffy bolted right side up and came to attention. "Sorry, Nami," he giggled. "Did you say something? Is it lunchtime? I'm starving!" He leapt from the crow's nest and landed before her.

"No," Nami sighed, massaging her temples. "I was _saying_ that the next island is a marine hotspot. We'll likely run into some trouble there, with Tashigi being onboard and all. We should reconsider."

"Which island is it, Nami-swan?" Sanji sang as he danced onto the deck with a tall drink for Nami. "If it's dangerous, I would never let you and Robin-chan be harmed!~"

"It's called Bell Island," Nami said, ignoring Sanji's flattering. "But like I was saying, marines go there all the time and…"

"Bell Island?" Sanji asked, still songlike. "Why, we simply cannot pass over it, Nami-swan! Bell Island is the meat capital of the world! Do you know how many wonderful dishes I could prepare for you out of the wonderful Bell Island meat?" Luffy gasped as if amazed and put his hands over his mouth.

"The meat capital of the world?" he repeated softly, with sparkling eyes. He turned to Nami and grabbed her by the shoulders suddenly. 'Nami, I'll just get all the marines out of the way or I'll get you their money or whatever; we just _can't_ skip going to the MEAT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!"

Nami sighed and gave up the fight. "_Fine_," she said reluctantly. "We should be there by tomorrow at this time." Luffy laughed excitedly and pumped his fist. "We're going to Bell Island!" he screamed so that everyone could hear him.

"Bell Island?" Chopper asked, tilting his head to one side. Tashigi's eyes widened.

"Wait," she said hurriedly. "You're actually going to Bell Island?" Luffy nodded excitedly and Tashigi sat back, amazed. Was Luffy totally dense? Was he really going to take his crew to a marine hotspot with her onboard and expect her to stay put? Well, he could think again. But Luffy didn't seem to realize that she could possibly escape.

"Of course, you would have to stay on the ship, Tashigi," Nami said sternly, shaking a warning finger at her as if she were a child. "We wouldn't want you meeting any marine buddies out here. We don't want the whole world to know we have you aboard; that will only be something else Smoker has to cover for." Tashigi glared at Nami, then decided that she couldn't be suspicious and reinstated a smile. "Of course," she said nicely. Nami didn't looked convinced, but she just shrugged and returned to charting out their course on a map. Zoro watched Tashigi from his corner of the deck suspiciously. He'd have to watch out for her.

"MEATTTTTT!" Luffy yelled, dashing up the pier and towards the city. "BELL ISLAND! FINALLY!"

"Luffy!" Nami ran after him. "Come BACK; we need to figure out where we're meeting each other and you don't have any money!"

"We're going to need a lot of cola," Franky was telling Sanji as they got off the ship. Next went Chopper and Usopp. "Yeah," Usopp was saying as they got off board. "I once was faced with the challenge of defending a whale from being eaten before. People were trying to kill it for food. So what did I do? Well, I had a strategy-"

"Amazing!" The two dropped off the deck as well. Soon, only Robin was left. She smiled at Tashigi. "I forgot to mention something," she said. "I have been placed in charge of making sure you don't try to bust out of here. We can trust you, I know, but it's just a precaution. Follow me, please." Tashigi couldn't believe it. They had chosen to let perhaps the smartest person on the crew deal with her. Maybe they weren't so naïve after all.

"In here, please," Robin said. She opened the door to a room with a couple of barrels, a broom and a single porthole.

"We don't use this much," she shrugged. "But I've been ordered to keep you in here. I'll see you later." With that, Robin left, closing the door behind her. The lock clicked into place. The marine sighed and slumped down against the wall. A wall was what now separated her from freedom. Somehow, the joy that she had gotten from being on the ship had withered away. She wanted to be back with the marines, where she belonged. Who were these numbskull pirates to try and stop her! She got to her feet and crossed the room to the barrels against the wall. She used the broom handle to pry the first one open. It contained a whole lot of stale bread. She replaced the lid and opened the other barrel. This one held stale noodles. Sighing, she looked around the room another time. How would she get out of here with only a bunch of grain and a broom? Then she got an idea. She took the broom from the wall and held it in front of her, concentrating. She eyed the door and fingered the broom handle in her hands. It did feel quite like a sword all of a sudden. Tashigi focused her energy on the door and raised the broom above her head, then swiped it down quickly. As she had planned, she heard the door protest. She jabbed at it again and again, hearing the wood whine every time. Finally, with one last swing, the door swung open backwards and she was free to go. She stepped out into the hallway, looking for a quick exit. Before she left, however, she made it a point to stop by the women's quarters to grab Shigure. When she entered, she had to stop in place. With their back facing her was a person in a suit and top hat with puffy black hair. An intruder, maybe? If so, what were they doing in the girls' room? Was that chest in the corner actually full of money? As he hummed to himself, clearly unaware of her presence, Tashigi soundlessly grabbed Shigure from the wall, but as soon as she did so, she stumbled backwards and fell with a bang flat on her back. She scrambled to her feet just as the person turned to look at her. She took in a sharp breath. The man facing her had the body of a skeleton.

"Yohoho!" the skeleton laughed to her. "Why, aren't you a sight for sore eyes! But I wouldn't know, because I don't have any! Yohohoho!" Tashigi yelled and ran. That couldn't have been real. It wasn't real. It was impossible. Skeletons didn't speak. She bounded onto the deck and ran to the ladder, practically jumping down it. When she turned around, panting, she found that someone had been waiting for her.

"Well," Zoro said, crossing his arms. "I had a feeling you'd get out and try to get on the island. You can't pass." Seeing the look of distress on her face, he added, "It looks like you've just met Brook. He's been under deck perfecting a song he wants to play for us. Well, for the _crew_, I should say." Tashigi glared at him.

"Get out of my way," she said, unsheathing Shigure. "If you're too pathetic to give me a real fight, then at least just let me pass now and save some time." Zoro smirked. "You're not passing," he repeated. "And I only need one sword to beat you, anyway, so why bother?" Tashigi growled and lunged at him. Zoro quickly unsheathed Wadou Ichimonji and blocked her attack. "I'm telling you, you won't get past me," he said. He swung out at her and she barely had time to dodge. She felt the air from the swing graze her arm. Zoro was great, and she knew that. But she had to get back to Smoker, and he was interfering with her plan.

"This sword," said Zoro, almost conversationally, "is my most prized possession."

"That sword is used for _evil_," Tashigi protested. She lunged at him again and he blocked.

"You think so?" Zoro stepped back and smirked. "You could do well by learning its technique. You're still attacking too much." She rearranged her grip on her sword and bent her arms at the elbows, then swung in an overhead arch. For a split second, after the swords clashed, Wadou jumped from Zoro's hand a bit. He reclaimed it and again smirked at his opponent.

"So you _were_ listening to me," he said, bringing Wadou forward to block another strike. "See, I was right. Bending your arms helps. You've improved already." He then ducked under her guard and swung Wadou upwards, knocking Shigure into the air. He then caught Tashigi's katana and held it out to her. "But not as good as I am," he said. "Mihawk held off all three of my swords with a little pocketknife. If you want to beat me, you have to be as good as he was." Tashigi snatched Shigure out of his grip and re-sheathed it with a "humph".

"You win, I guess," she growled, leaning back against Sunny's hull. Zoro sat down by the pier's rail, crossed his arms behind his head, and closed his eyes. Was he really going to go to sleep? Tashigi looked to him, then down the length of the pier to Bell Island's main street.

"Don't even think about it," Zoro warned. She looked back over at him. His eyes were still shut. But Tashigi did think about it. She thought about it very hard. It would take Zoro a minute to get up and running, which may just be the minute Tashigi needed to rush into town and get the directionally-impaired pirate lost. Another glance told that his eyes were still shut. She eyed the end of the pier, fingered Shigure for confidence, and took off. Zoro opened his eyes and heaved a sigh, then pulled himself to his feet and ran after her.

"I wonder if we were a bit… hard on the marine girl," Robin said to Nami as they exited a clothing store loaded with shopping bags. Nami waved it off. "No," she said. "We can't really trust her. Apparently, she's a bit more ambitious than we would like. Besides, we bought her clothes, didn't we? She should be thanking us, walking around in those creepy print tops. I don't think I've ever seen someone dress like she does. Maybe it's a marine rule or something." She looked down the street and sighed. "Where is Sanji?" she demanded to no one in particular. "I don't want to haul all this back to the ship myself!"

"Right here, Nami-swan!~" came Sanji's croon. He danced down the street and accepted all of the girls' bags at once. "I found someone to deliver the food to the docks, so I'm all free!"

"Thanks, Sanji," Nami said with a sweet smile. Robin looked around and furrowed her brow. "Where's Luffy?" she wondered aloud. Sanji stepped in again.

"Our idiot captain is stuffing his face full of food, Robin-chan," he said.

"And Zoro?" Robin questioned. Sanji made a face.

"At the ship, being our guard," he answered. Robin's eyebrows raised. "Well, then," she said. "This should be interesting."

"What should be interesting?" Nami asked, following Robin's gaze. In the middle of the crowd, brushing back his sea green hair awkwardly, was Zoro, looking lost again. When he spotted them, his eyes widened a bit and he quickly looked away.

"ZORO!" Nami yelled, storming up to him. "What are you doing here! You were supposed to be guarding the ship; what if someone tries to destroy it like in Loguetown and we end up killing a marine!" Zoro glared back at her, "That's why I'm out here! That 'marine' ran away! She could be anywhere on this street! We have to find her now before she contacts someone!" Nami groaned and turned away from Zoro. "Sanji, go put my bags on the ship and then check the westernmost part of town. Robin, you've got the northern part. I'll go check around the end of the streets, and Zoro, since you have the directional ability of a toothpick, you can stand guard outside the boat like you're _supposed _to be doing!" The group quickly disbanded and began their search, hoping Tashigi hadn't met a friend yet.

"But the best part, Chopper, is when I faced the mighty fish-man Arlong and said, 'Hey, we've got a score to settle. No one picks on Nami like that!' And he looked so scared that I almost just ran away and let him be, but my courage got the best of me-"

"Wow, Usopp! That's amazing! Tell me more!" Tashigi groaned inwardly. She was trapped in an alleyway. Because Usopp and Chopper had chosen to eat their cotton candy on a bench near the alley's opening, she'd be spotted any way she tried to run out. Though she could probably trick them into letting her run off, the other Mugiwaras would be there to tell them to keep a lookout for her and they would know where she had gone. But she really had to cross the street here. There was a marine building on the island which would allow her to alert someone of her capture. Slowly, she inched around the corner and then broke off into a run.

"Hey, isn't that-" Usopp began, but she darted behind a building on the other side of the street before he could finish.

Tashigi dashed down the street. The marine building rose up before her and she pushed the doors open and ran inside. To her relief, there was a familiar face standing at the counter; a tall, pink haired woman in a red suit and a captain's coat pulled around her shoulders. She looked surprised.

"Sergeant Tashigi?" she asked, leaning forward a bit. "Hina was not expecting to see you here. Is Smoker in town?"

"N-no, Hina-san," Tashigi said. "But you must help me; there are pirates trying to hold me prisoner so Smoker-san will have to pay them a reward and I don't want to put him through any more trouble…" Hina chuckled. "Sergeant Tashigi has not changed," she said. "What pitiful crew has you?" Tashigi looked down at the ground. "The Mugiwaras, Hina-san." Hina's eyes widened.

"Hina did not think they would be kidnappers. However, Hina will put her men to work." She reached for the den den mushi.

"Usopp!" Nami said, spotting the marksman and Chopper sitting on a bench eating cotton candy. "Have you seen Tashigi? She escaped from the ship!" Usopp tilted his head to one side.

"Well, awhile ago I did see someone who looked like her, but I wasn't sure," he said.

"Where did she go!" Nami demanded. Usopp shakily pointed to the other side of the street.

"Crap! She's going for the marine building. Usopp, Chopper, go tell the others to come meet me outside it. I'm not letting my half-million berries get away!"

End chapter 4! So, I've been bothered by something recently. You know that scar over Shanks' left eye? Did Buggy do that? Because it looks suspiciously like those claw things on his gloves. And thanks for the feedback; I just assumed that Luffy knew about Sogeking. He might know, anyway. He's a *sneaky* character. XD

Oh, and I know Brook's introduction wasn't all that good, but I promise he'll be back in the next chapter for a longer time. I promise! ^^


	4. Seek and Find

Ummm let's see. I liked your comments, as always. I didn't know that about Shanks. Blackbeard did it? Thanks for telling me 'cause that was bugging me. XD Poor Shanks. First that and then he lost his arm. Must be hard, being Shanks. I'm glad that y'all seemed to like Brook's introduction. ^^ I tried to be creative. So what was Shanks going to do with the fruit he had? Sell it? Eat it himself? …O-O I think I'll stop asking questions. Oh, and I completely forgot about Brook in this chapter, so that promise is still in action but for the next chapter, okay? Sorry! ^^ _

Hina ordered two of her men to take Tashigi to safety. However soft she thought the Mugiwara pirates were, she knew the potential threat they held, and if for some twisted reason they wanted to keep on after the sergeant major, they shouldn't be able to find her easily. That had been her explanation, anyway. Tashigi understood. It wasn't a terrible plan. Too bad the men Hina trusted Tashigi's life to were Jango and Fullbody.

"Hina-chan is so beautiful," Fullbody mused, practically acting like Sanji. Tashigi sighed loudly, but this did nothing to quell their chatter about the captain.

"Let's buy her some more flowers!" Jango suggested, moving over to a roadside stand. "Perhaps she'll see the love in us more clearly this time!" Tashigi stared as they picked out a bouquet for Hina. Her life was in the hands of these two imbeciles who could only think of Hina? She knew for a fact that any of the Mugiwaras could barrel right through them. Not that her life was on the line or anything; they wouldn't kill her.

"These purple ones are exquisite!"

"Oh, but look at these pink ones; isn't pink a good color for her?"

"Oh, look, you can buy a little ribbon for the side with a heart on it!" Tashigi wondered if Hina really put trust in these two like Smoker did in her; a sort of relationship in which you could tease and respect all at once. If so, she just might be crazy. Besides, Jango and Fullbody just couldn't seem to get that their captain was way out of their league. She even seemed to flirt with Smoker often, which, frankly, was sort of disturbing.

"Hey," Tashigi interjected finally after the two marines had finished up their flower-shopping. "Can we please get to the safe haven that I'm supposed to be in? Because you two aren't doing a very good job of protecting me in the middle of the main street."

"You are safe!" Fullbody said, waving her off with one hand and holding Hina's bouquet in the other.

"I'll take care of anyone who wants to hurt you," Jango added, holding up one of his metal rings and nodding. "We're headed to Bell Cove. No one goes there anymore. I'd be surprised if anyone could find it."

"Why are you so insistent on getting away from them, anyway?" Fullbody asked. "I hate that blonde chef for his life, of course, but it's not like the idiots cause you any trouble." Tashigi felt a strange resentment towards him for calling the Mugiwaras idiots. She shook it off quickly and answered, "Well, I don't belong held up on a pirate ship for money. And I've already caused Smoker-kun a lot of trouble and covering-up to do. I'd like for him to not have to deal with any more of that." She watched the main street slowly fade out of sight behind them as they headed for Bell Cove.

:3

"Any sign of her yet, Usopp?"

"No…"

"Alright; keep looking!" Nami had taken charge of the operation and had currently just found Luffy. He was gorging on meat at a nearby stall, clearly freaking out the merchant at the counter.

"Luffy!" she yelled, grabbing him by the shoulder. "You've got to help out; Tashigi's run away and probably contacted the marines!" Luffy hummed through his large drumstick. "I tot she wantud to leave," he said.

"Well, she did, but if she does and contacts someone in the marines with a loose tongue, they could spread the rumor that we're kidnappers and have the whole navy looking for us near Bell Island! Plus, I might not get a reward from Smoker!" Nami looked a little concerned with the issue. Luffy shrugged. "I kinda like her," he said, swallowing the food in his mouth. "Maybe we _should get her back. Maybe Smokey wants her on his ship like I wanna keep all you guys." He grinned._

"_Oi, Luffy-bro!" Franky approached, carrying a large crate marked 'COLA'. "How come I haven't been able to find anyone? I got a whole bunch of cola!"_

"_We're looking for Tashigi," Nami said. "She escaped."_

"_Oh," Franky said. "So Zoro was right, eh? Maybe we couldn't trust her after all."_

"_Zoro said that?" Luffy asked, tilting his head to one side._

"_It shouldn't be much of a surprise," Nami scoffed. "Zoro doesn't trust anyone. He didn't trust me or Robin, either. Maybe he's sexist. It might be girls in general. I don't know. Enough of this small talk! Everyone disband and look for her! In those shirts she can't be hard to miss…" she added under her breath._

"_Uh, no problem," Franky said, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder. "I think we'll have to run, anyway…" Luffy turned to see what the problem was to find that a mob of marines were charging towards him. "Yes!" he said, pumping his fists. "Time to have some fun!"_

_-^U^_

_Zoro scratched his head as he stared up at a cliff looming over top of him. He was standing before a small inlet under the shade of the cliff. How he had gotten here was a mystery to him. He had just spotted some marines with a black-haired girl, assumed it was Tashigi, and tried to follow outside of the range of people. Somehow, he had ended up losing the three people and had found himself… here. Wherever 'here' was. He turned around a few times, forgetting from which way he had come. Each side looked the same. Maybe if he tried just one way… He was about to head for what he thought was the way out when he heard voices from behind him. He quickly ducked behind a boulder near the cliff side and waited. Slowly, three figures emerged from presumably the same path he had taken. He could hear their voices clearly._

"_Here we are, Sergeant Major."_

"_This is Bell Cove. The Mugiwaras couldn't find you here." Sergeant Major? That was Tashigi's title. The coward had gone to get marine security? How cute and amateurish. Zoro peered at them from his hiding place to get a good look at them. Oh; he knew these two clowns. Did Tashigi think she was protected? Fat chance. Zoro didn't see why the other Mugiwaras wanted her back, but he had been outnumbered in the vote, and if Luffy wanted her back, he'd get her._

"_Wow," Tashigi was saying, looking around at the cliff walls that made up the cove. "This is sort of nice. I guess you're right; anyone could think it wasn't here." She sat down in the sand and Zoro saw his chance. While Fullbody set down a bouquet of flowers (Zoro didn't want to know what that was about), he crept out from his hiding spot and drew one of his swords. The sound made Jango and Fullbody's heads snap around. Tashigi glared and said, "I should've known you'd find your way here. Only someone who's ridiculously lost could find this place."_

"_Yeah, well," Zoro said, smirking. "I've come to take you back." Hina's marines stood before him._

"_Nuh-uh," said Jango. "You'll have to go through us, first! Hina-san's orders!"_

"_Isn't that sweet," Zoro said. He waited for Fullbody to attack, sidestepped, and used the flat side of his sword to knock him in the back of the head, sending him flying into the cliff side face-first. Jango drew one of his rings out and dangled it before him. "You will fall into a deep sleep, pirate! One…two…" Zoro threw an arm across his eyes to cover them before Jango could finish. How was he supposed to fight if he had to use one arm to shield his eyes? Then he got an idea. He removed his bandana from his arm and, placing his current sword in his mouth, tied it over his eyes like a blindfold. He heard Jango laugh._

"_I wouldn't be so smug," Zoro said. "I've always said I could beat losers like you blindfolded." He spat his sword back into his hand and charged Jango. He felt his blade connect crudely with one of the rings and reared back again, changing his footing. This time, he heard the weapon slice through the air over his head as he ducked to avoid it. With one easy swish, he barreled the katana into the side of Jango's face, sending him right after Fullbody into the wall and then onto the ground. He pulled the blindfold down, sheathed his sword, and looked over at Tashigi. "You're a pain, you know that?" he said. "Come on. It's time to give up." Tashigi was persistent. She got to her feet and held Shigure in front of her. "It's not over yet!" she declared. Zoro sighed. "I'm tired," he said. "I missed my usual two hours of sleep this morning because of all the commotion you caused. Come on, let's go." With that, he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder for the second time that week._

"_Let me go!" Tashigi yelled. Zoro looked up at the sky, ignoring her. Finally, Tashigi gave up and resided to being carried._

"_Why is it so important that I remain your prisoner?" she asked tiredly, leaning her chin into her hand._

"_Beats me," Zoro answered. "I guess it has something to do with Nami being greedy, or Luffy's belief that nakama don't like to be separated. Of course, then there's always Sanji's attraction to you, but he's just like that anyway. It's not like I want you on board any more than you want me. I'm only doing what Luffy wants me to do." A moment passed before Tashigi spoke up again, bravely._

"_Does Luffy tell you not to fight with me?" Zoro snorted. "No," he admitted. "He doesn't care, as long as you're alright with it."_

"_Then why won't you?" Tashigi asked. After a brief silence, he lowered her to the ground, pushing her in front of him to keep an eye on her. She sheathed Shigure. They walked in silence for a few minutes. Zoro then sighed and looked up again at the sky. "You're like a reminder," he said. "You remind me of someone I held very dear to me."_

"_Ew," Tashigi commented. Zoro rolled his eyes. "Do you want to know or not?"_

"_Oh, yeah, I do," she said. "Go on." He looked down to Wadou Ichimonji and fingered the hilt. "Wadou was her sword," he said. "She was a little older than me. I came to her father's dojo claiming to be better than anyone there. He sent out Kuina to battle me." He looked down at the ground. "She beat me. She beat me bad, so many times. I trained harder than anyone else in the dojo to try and defeat her. Then, one night, we had a duel with real swords. Though she won, Kuina just teared up and started crying about being a woman and how she'd eventually be beaten by me because I'd grow to be stronger. I made her promise me that one day, one of us would be the greatest swordsman that ever lived."_

"_That's sort of sweet," Tashigi said._

"_Yeah. But she died the next day, tripping down a flight of stairs. It was a horrible way for her to die. She was stronger than that."_

"_Oh," said Tashigi. "I'm sorry." For a moment, Zoro said nothing. Then he looked back to her face. "The weirdest part," he went on, stopping for a moment, "Is that you remind me so much of her in so many ways." Tashigi could see her reflection in his eyes as he examined her. "Kuina had the same bluish hair," he said, poking her lightly in the head. "She had the same gentle face, though you've put yours to worse use." Meticulously, Zoro reached out and slowly removed her glasses with both hands. "You've got the same eyes, too," he said. "Really big and brown." Tashigi felt heat rise on her cheeks as Zoro cupped her chin in his hand and moved her head to see her profile before slipping her glasses back on._

"_I'm, um, sorry if it's a problem to have me around you," she said. Zoro's expression was troubled for a moment. Then he nodded shortly and they continued._

"_Get back here, Mugiwara!" Luffy giggled and turned to face Hina. "It's not fair to hit girls," he pointed out. This is when Robin stepped in, flourishing three additional arms from her single right one. "I'll take this one for you, Captain," she said, smirking. "You guys get back to the ship." Hina narrowed her eyes. "Really?" she said, crossing her arms. "Hina is impressed, but will accept your challenge, Nico Robin."_

_End Chapter 4 ^^ It was shorter this time, I know…_


	5. Escaping

"_Ohohoho," Brook chuckled to himself, striding along the seashore. "I seem to have lost track of that little lady I met onboard the Sunny. I wonder who she was, anyway? Perhaps a new addition was made while I was putting the finishing touches on my new prize song? I'll certainly have to find out. I should probably head back to the ship now, beings that my search has been unrewarding…" He continued to step along the beach, which would then round around to the harbor, when he misplaced his step onto a hand in his path._

"_Unh," said the form of a man lying facedown and bruised on the beach. "Hina-san…" Brook stopped to take a closer look (which was a funny thing to do because he had no eyes). Lavender hair was escaping the man's cap. Brook carefully turned the man over, revealing the startling message "MARINES" on the cap._

"_Ah, a marine," he observed. He was quiet for a moment, watching the man mumble to himself about flowers. Then he turned on his heel and strode off. "Can't get tied up with marines, can I? Yohoho…"_

_Fullbody grunted. "Jango," he said weakly._

"_Over here," said Jango, in a very uncomfortable looking position, crumpled against the cliff side. His glasses were visibly cracked._

"_We didn't get Hina-san's flowers to her," Fullbody said. Jango looked over at the bouquet wistfully, and then back up at the sky. "Hina-chan," he said glumly._

"_No!" said Fullbody suddenly, slamming an iron fist into the sand. "We're not giving up just yet, Jango! We are getting that bouquet to Hina! Today is the day that we proclaim our love for her!"_

"_Ahh, but that swordsman hurt me," Jango pouted. Fullbody jumped to his feet, then went over and pulled Jango up from the sand. "We will proclaim_ our love!" he said again. "Come on! Grab that bouquet!" Rubbing his head, Jango picked up the flowers and followed his comrade.

"Franky, do we have enough cola for Coup-De-Burst?" Nami asked hurriedly as they rushed back to the ship. Franky pouted over the top of his newly purchased crate. "Well, yeah, but I just bought this!"

"Well, sorry, Franky, but we're going to have to use it! Get it ready!" Franky ran off to be replaced by Chopper, who looked afraid. "Nami, this is bad!" he said. "Robin's out there with Hina, and me, you, Franky, Sanji, Usopp and Luffy are all here, but there's no sign of Zoro, Tashigi, or Brook!"

"_Brook's_ gone!" Nami said, grabbing at her orange hair stressfully. "Why is Brook gone!" she yelled.

"I don't know!" Chopper yelled back, backing up. "Nami, you're scaring me!"

"And Zoro could be anywhere!" Nami went on, ignoring Chopper. "We still need Tashigi if we want that money from Smoker… SANJI! LUFFY! USOPP!"

"Nami-swan!" Sanji cooed, popping up behind her.

"Hai, Nami!" Luffy giggled, popping up on her other side.

"Y-y-y-yes, Nami," Usopp stuttered.

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING STANDING AROUND!" She punched the back of their heads, creating three swollen bumps, then pointed towards town. "Go find Zoro, Tashigi, and Brook!"

"I call Tashigi-san!" Sanji sang into the wood of the dock. He jumped up and pranced away, followed by Usopp, who promised to keep the chef on the mission.

"Mm, why is Brook gone?" Luffy said, tilting his head to one side. "Maybe he went to go get some Bell Island meat? I'll go check!"

"LUFFY!" Nami yelled, but Luffy had already sped off. She smacked her forehead in frustration.

"Navigator-san, watch out!" Nami ducked just as Chopper soared through the air and crashed into a heap behind her, wrapped tightly in a steel band. "Nami!" he pouted, struggling. Nami sighed and bent to try and help Chopper out of his bonds.

"Coup-De-Burst will be ready in ten!" Franky announced.

"Ten _minutes_!" Nami groaned. "That's not nearly enough time for Zoro to find his way back here!"

Robin's arms continued to hold Hina back as much as they could, but the battle went in a circle. Robin would attack, Hina would swipe her arm through the new limb, and it would be bound in a steel ring before it disappeared and the ring would clatter to the deck. Robin narrowed her eyes and focused on a pressure point. If Hina would be still, knocking her unconscious would be easy, but the Black Cage navy captain had a habit of moving around too much. Hina, on the other hand, had her focus on getting close enough to swipe an arm through Robin without her Hana Hana powers interfering.

"Just give up!" Hina growled, lunging at Robin. "Hina is getting very impatient!" She swiped an arm out at Robin, who sprouted a hand to grab the navy captain's fist. Hina lashed out at Robin and the arm holding her fist disappeared. She sidestepped easily.

"It would be helpful if you could share where our hostage has run off to," Robin said.

"Never," Hina hissed back, flipping a long strand of pink hair out of her face. "Hina promised Sergeant Tashigi's safe return to her home vessel."

"It looks like Hina is going to be breaking a promise today," Robin grinned. "Seis fleurs." Immediately, six of Robin's arms sprouted, this time from Hina's body. Two grabbed her ankles, and likewise her wrists and her shoulders, forcing her down to the ground. Hina looked up at her opponent fiercely and Robin smirked victoriously and was about to continue the KO plan when…"Hina-san!"

"Hina-san…" Fullbody and Jango crushed their captain in a hug from both sides. "We brought you flowers!" Fullbody said.

"We love you, Hina-san!" Jango said. Hina trembled angrily under them. "WOULD YOU IDIOTS GIVE UP AND REALIZE HINA DOES NOT LOVE YOU!" she yelled. Robin looked on with a disturbed expression and turned to Nami. "What should I-?"

"Nothing," Nami said, shaking her head slowly. "I think she'll be tortured enough. They look worse than Sanji."

"Hina-san, we only wish to please you!" Fullbody said.

"Then leave me alone!"

"Ah, Hina-san, you must realize that our affections for you are so real!" Jango insisted. "Let's go get you some tea, Hina-san!"

"Where are we?" Zoro asked, scratching the back of his head. "This is weird. We were in Bell Cove, right? Right around the corner should have been the docks…"

"Ugh," Tashigi said, checking a map that had been set up on a notice board. "You rounded the wrong corner. Let's go this way." She started to walk when she was suddenly jerked back. "What…" she looked down to see that she had been handcuffed to Zoro. "Why?" she asked simply, pointing to the chain.

"Because you have a tendency to pretend like you trust me and then try to run off somewhere," Zoro answered. "Plus, if you misbehave again I'm throwing you back over my shoulder and carrying you through town like some aggravated parent. I think being handcuffed to me would be better for you. And we're going _this way_," he added, choosing the opposite direction than what she had suggested. Though she put up an argument, Tashigi was forced to follow Zoro because of the handcuffs. Again, Zoro's direction senses led them off-course and straight into a familiar figure with a straw hat.

"Luffy," Zoro said, smiling smugly at Tashigi, who in turn stuck her tongue out at him. "See? Now we have Luffy. Nothing to worry about."

"Oh, yeah," Luffy said over the meat in his mouth. "Nabi's looking for you two. And Brook. Turns out he wasn't getting meat anywhere in Bell Island. Weird, huh?"

"Hey, kid," the stall owner said with a sigh. "You've cleared me out of all my meat, okay? Pay the bill so I can go home." Luffy looked down at the large number in red letters and hummed. "Nope, don't have any money. Sorry." The shopkeeper looked appalled. "_What_!" he said.

"Wait," Luffy said. "Zoro, have any money?"

"When _do _I have money!" Zoro responded, snarling. "The navigator is still holding a debt over my head. But Tashigi has just enough to cover that," he added, handing Luffy a stack of bills and an empty money purse back to Tashigi.

"You- what if I needed that money!" Tashigi demanded. Zoro shrugged.

"Didn't cross my mind," he answered nonchalantly.

"Hey, you handcuffed her to you!" Luffy realized. He giggled. "Maybe I should handcuff Sanji to me! That way he can't pretend like he can't hear me when I ask him for food!"

"Oh, Tashigi-chan!""Speak of the devil," Zoro sighed, running a hand through his hair as Sanji danced up to her. He stopped short when he saw the handcuffs. "Eh?" he said. "Hate to break it to you, Marimo, but even that won't make Tashigi-chan want to be any closer to you."

"Wh-what!" Zoro demanded, grabbing Sanji's shoulder. "Wanna say that to my face, curly brow?" Tashigi's arm jerked forward.

"You're hurting Tashigi-chan, moss head!"

"Am not, dartboard! Tashigi-chan…er, Tashigi, am I hurting you!"

"I can tell you who's _going_ to be hurt," Tashigi growled, putting a hand on Shigure's hilt.

"Guys, please!" said Usopp, finally catching up to Sanji. "Don't fight here! There are marines _everywhere_." He shuddered slightly. Tashigi looked around. Like he had said, marines were posted all around them. For whatever reason, they weren't attacking.

"Something weird's going on here," Tashigi muttered. "They're not doing anything…"

"Let's just get back to the ship," Usopp went on. "Nami said Franky's warming up Coup-De-Burst. We've gotta get back before it takes off."

"Coup-De-Burst?" Tashigi repeated. "What's-"

"Let's go!" Luffy said eagerly. "We can get there in no time!"

"Have you guys seen Brook?" Usopp asked as Luffy disappeared from sight. Tashigi continued to look around for any sign of alertness on the faces of the marine guards. Her arm was awkwardly jerked up and down as Zoro and Sanji continued bickering.

"Guys!" Usopp said again. "Seriously, you shouldn't be fighting right now we might-"

"How could you be so hostile with poor Tashigi-chan!"

"Oh, please! Better than you making passes at her all the time-"

"Is this defense of Tashigi-chan I hear?"

"Go suck up to Nami and Robin, curly brow!"

"What you call sucking up is being a gentleman, which of course you would know nothing about!"

"What are you saying!"

"I'm saying-"

"You guys, really, we should-"

"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!" Everyone turned to see Luffy flying towards them.

"Run!" Zoro said. They all tried their best and scrambled to get away, but Luffy was faster and crashed right into them, causing them all to fly through the sky above the citizens' heads. They crash-landed into a pile of crates at the harbor.

"Yahoo!" Luffy said, bursting out of the pile. "That was fun!"

"Luffy, you idiot!" Zoro said, rubbing his head as he, too, emerged from the debris.

"Nami-swan! Robin-chan!" Sanji said, popping up with hearts in his eyes. He ran to them eagerly while Usopp got up. Zoro began to rise when he felt Tashigi's weight still on his arm.

"Oh, right," he realized, moving a box off of her stomach. "You alright?" Tashigi grunted and pushed down on her handcuffed arm to get up. "I'm fine," she said.

"No, you're not," Zoro said. "What's wrong with your other arm?"

"Nothing." She moved to walk past him and he stopped her by placing a hand on her head and pushing her backwards to face him. "It's bleeding," he said. "Go get Chopper to look at it."

"Don't tell me what to do," Tashigi said, ducking under his arm and dragging him over to the rest of the crew.

Sanji had discovered Hina and was cooing over her while Jango and Fullbody crushed her. Two of Robin's arms still held Hina's hands and feet together.

"Is Coup-De-Burst almost ready?" Usopp asked Nami, who in turn glared at him. "You came three minutes early," she answered. "Lucky for you guys, Brook was looking for Tashigi and found his way back here himself."

"Hina-san," Tashigi said quietly. Hina looked up and thrashed again and sighed in defeat. "Smoker-kun will never let Hina hear the end of this," she said. Her gaze redirected to Tashigi's handcuff, to Zoro, to Robin, and finally to Luffy. "Captan Smoker sees Sergeant Tashigi like a father sees his daughter. If you hurt her, you're going to pay for it."

"Please," Nami scoffed. "All we want is Smoker's mon-"

"Oh, we're not worried about paying for anything," Zoro said suddenly, drawing Wadou and holding it across Tashigi's shoulders. He smirked mischievously as Hina's eyebrows arched and then narrowed again. "You wouldn't," she said.

"Would I?" Zoro dared. He tilted the blade slightly to where Hina could vaguely see her own reflection.

"Coup-De-Burst in only a minute, guys!" Franky called from onboard.

"We gotta go," Usopp said, climbing onto the deck. "Guys, come on. I don't think that captain is going anywhere." Chopper and Nami followed. Chopper was still clad with a steel band. Sanji danced away, waving giddily at Hina, who scowled back at him. Luffy giggled. "Bye, cranky navy lady!" he said, hopping onboard. "C'mon, Zoro!"

Zoro looked to Hina and smirked, sheathing his sword. He picked Tashigi up around the waist and got on board himself. The Thousand Sunny burst upward in a brown spray, leaving Bell Island behind.

"Oi, Chopper," Zoro said when Sunny had landed back in the ocean and someone had calmed Luffy down before he insisted that they do it again. He set Tashigi on the deck. "Check her arm. Something's wrong with it." Chopper looked down at the band circling him. "Um, Zoro…" Zoro drew Wadou and took a breath, closing his eyes. Then he opened them and performed a neat downward slash, breaking the band circling him. Tashigi looked amazed. "You just," she started. Zoro looked to her with an amused grin. "I what?" he prodded.

"You- you cut steel," she said, blinking. "How did you-…?"

"I learned from a good teacher," Zoro said. He began to walk away when the handcuff chain held him back. "Oh, right," he realized. "Forgot about that." He dug around in his pocket for a moment. "Let's see…" He checked the other pocket, then crossed his arms. "Hm."

"What do you mean, 'hm'!" Tashigi said. Zoro looked around. "Usopp!" he called. "Get out here!" Usopp appeared from inside the ship, confused. Zoro usually never called for him. "Yes?" he answered.

"You got something that'll get these handcuffs off?" Zoro pointed. Usopp shrugged. "I've got something that'll break the chain."

"I can do that myself. Can you get the actual cuffs off?"

"I can try… hold on a minute." He disappeared back into the ship while Chopper began to clean the wound on Tashigi's arm. "Luffy needs to stop doing that!" he muttered. "Someone's going to end up breaking their neck or something…" Tashigi smiled at the little reindeer fondly. Usopp came back out with a thin-topped hammer and a spike. He put the spike into the keyhole on Zoro's cuff and hammered into it, breaking the cuff off. He then went to Tashigi's and broke hers, too. "There," he said, satisfied. This is about when Nami stormed over, dragging Luffy by the arm. "I call a ship meeting!" she demanded. "All hands on deck!" Sanji danced out of the kitchen. "Coming, Nami-swan!" he crooned. Robin came from her spot in a lounging chair on deck to join the others. Franky came in from inside the ship and finally Brook appeared from below deck. Nami made sure everyone was listening and then turned to Tashigi. "You have some explaining to do!" she declared. "How are we supposed to trust you at all if you keep trying to get away from us! We wasted almost all that money that Franky spent on cola to get away from that crazy marine captain and it's _your_ fault! Not only that, but you got Zoro lost trying to find you, you delayed Brook's return, you got Chopper stuck in that ring thing, and you made Sanji fall in love with _another_ girl!" Tashigi looked down into her lap while Chopper tied her bandages tightly.

"Aside from that," Robin said, smiling, "Nami-sama was kind enough to buy you some clothes to last you the time here."

"I'm hungry," Luffy said. "Sanji, make me some food!"

"Quiet!" Sanji said, kicking Luffy in the head. "Robin-chan is talking!""Thank you, Sanji-kun," Robin said. "Anyway, why don't you go try something on? It's all on your bed. We should forgive you for your actions. After all, you are a hostage," she winked.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Smoker watched out the window as his ship was being worked on. After all the backtalk he had given to the World Government, they seemed extremely happy to tell him that he wouldn't be receiving a replacement ship and had to wait out the repairs of his own. He had picked up the den den mushi expecting more crap from the World Government and instead found himself listening to Hina give him the rundown of what had happened at Bell Island. "So you let them get away!" he growled. Hina scoffed.

"_Give Hina more credit than that, Smoker-kun."_

"Did they get away or not!" Silence for a moment.

"_Yes, they did, but-"_

"Hina, I don't have time for this. What's your point?"

"_The World Government has been perfecting a new weapon. Hina happened to have a prototype handy." _

"Would you stop talking like that and get on with it, woman!"

"_Smoker-kun, how would you like to capture all of the Mugiwara Pirates?" _Smoker let out a stream of smoke from his cigars and again looked at the poster of Luffy tacked to the wall. "Go on."

"_We use the den den mushi, transponder snails, and the likes, yes? Well, recently a new kind has been discovered. These are very small and use their teeth to latch onto clothes or accessories. Their signals are as easily picked up as that of the black transponder snails, meaning they can be heard from over long distances. They're also a lot clearer. Say Hina has one and you had the receiving end? You could hear everything Hina says all day long as well as the words of the people she interacts with."_

"Ah," Smoker realized. "You got one planted on Tashigi."

"_Right. Hina took care of it herself when she came into the office on Bell Island. I decided to hold back and instruct my men not to attack any of the pirates that were with her. Hina is going to go ahead and let them travel on. Based on the recordings we've heard, we should be chasing them right to Orange Ring Isle."_

"Aren't you the least bit concerned that Tashigi could be hurt as well?" Smoker said. "Orange Ring Isle? Maybe some of the Mugiwaras can handle that, but Tashigi can't afford to be clumsy there."

"_Don't jinx Hina's plan, Smoker-kun; we-" _Whatever else Hina said was drowned out by shouts in the background, _"HINA-SAN, WE'RE SORRY FOR OUR FAILURE!"_

"Just fire them," Smoker said, rubbing his temples. "They annoy me and I'm not even there."

"_You should learn to be patient, Smoker-kun." _The receiver clicked. Smoker sighed and set it down.

_OOOOOOOOO_

"_You think she'll like it?" Robin asked Nami. They were watching the door to the deck from their places in lounge chairs. Nami shrugged. "Well, she has to wear something besides that same old-fashioned print all the time. I think Zoro might like it, though," she chuckled._

"_What are the odds?" Robin mused, resting her cheek into her hand as she watched Tashigi come out onto the deck. "She's not bad looking, young- and a swordsman, of all things." Tashigi was holding Shigure awkwardly to her chest. She was wearing the clothes Nami had picked out for her: a polo striped with navy blue and sea foam green and a navy skirt styled like the ones Nami normally wore. Her sandals were the same green as on the shirt. Maybe it was because of the lack of skin she normally showed, but the clothes had brought on a complete transformation. She looked more like a girl than she had before._

"_Hey, Tashigi, you got new clothes!" said Luffy, who was attempting to tie himself into the shape of a pretzel. He popped back into his normal shape and giggled suddenly._

"_What're you laughing at?" Usopp asked, furrowing his brow over the blueprints he was working on. "She doesn't look bad."_

"_I know," Luffy kept on giggling. "I'm just thinking that Sanji's gonna get reeeeeeally mad." Before anyone could ask what he meant, Brook came out on deck. "Who wants to hear my new prize song?"_

_There's Chapter Five. A quick question: Who do you like Sanji paired with? I may or may not include some romance for him as the story progresses. I have to do something while I wait for Yontouryuu to be updated. _


	6. Assumption

**Zoro watched Tashigi train from across the deck as the sun was directly overhead. Her movements were steadily becoming more fluid. He watched as she struggled through the same move several times in a row. With a smirk he noted that she was attempting to perform one of his own single-sword style moves. He was about to call out and tell her to be more original when Sanji, in his button-down blue shirt and a distasteful apron, suddenly blocked his view of Tashigi, offering the marine a plate of small cakes that looked to be iced with little pink hearts. Though he couldn't hear them exactly, Zoro could tell what was happening. Sanji was trying to baby her with food, and she hadn't accepted, but Sanji was being persistent. Zoro grimaced. He couldn't stand it that Sanji was so persistent when it was obvious that a girl wasn't into him. A few slow puffs of hot air grazed Zoro's cheek. He turned around and yelled when he found Luffy only an inch from his facce, jumping away from the captain and landing on his back. Luffy giggled. "Did I scare you?" he asked, crossing his legs.**

"**What do you want, Luffy!" Zoro demanded, sitting up and brushing himself off. Luffy leaned in closer to his first mate, looking at him dead-on with huge, concentrated eyes. Zoro leaned back, raising an eyebrow. "Luffy, stop that. It's creepy."**

"**Ssh," Luffy said, putting a finger in front of his lips.. "I'm trying to figure out why you're so jealous of Sanji."**

"_**What**_**!' Zoro exclaimed. "I'm not **_**jealous**_** of that love-cook!" Luffy grinned suddenly and leaned away. "It's because he's hanging around Tashigi so much, isn't it!" Before Zoro could answer, he laughed and declared, "I knew it! Zoro's in loooooooooo-" Zoro clamped his hand over Luffy's mouth, reddening very slightly. "Shut up, I am not!" he yelled.**

"**Bur shersha sherdsman," Luffy said.**

"**I know she's a swordsman," Zoro argued. "She's not my type. I don't have a type. I don't need a girl to make me happy! Now you've gotta promise me you're not gonna run off telling people that I'm in… you know, the 'l' word. Got that?" Luffy nodded and Zoro released him, heading down to the galley. Luffy grinned and went on his way, thinking that he was much smarter than Zoro gave him credit for. Before long, he found just who he was looking for.**

"**Psst, Chopper." Luffy pulled the reindeer aside. "Zoro's got a secret."**

"**Really?" Chopper said with sparkling eyes, clasping his hooves together. "What kind of secret?"**

"**He's secretly in love with Tashigi!" the captain giggled. Chopper gasped, moving his hooves over his mouth. "Oh, so Usopp was right!" he said. "Zoro told you that?"**

"**Sorta," Luffy grinned. "He said something like 'don't go around telling people I'm in love'. So that means he is."**

"**But you just now told me," Chopper said, pointing to himself. "Won't that make Zoro angry? I don't think we want Zoro angry…"**

"**Yeah, but you're only half an actual **_**person**_**." Chopper considered and nodded. "You're right," he said. Luffy went off to be replaced by Usopp, who was carrying an armful of strange assorted objects, including something that looked reminiscent of Arlong's saw-toothed nose.**

"**Hey, Usopp," Chopper said excitedly. "Remember your theory about Zoro liking Tashigi?" Usopp nodded from overtop the pile of junk he was holding. "The ZoTa theory?" he said. "Sure I do. What about it?"**

"**Well, I heard from Luffy that it's true! Zoro's in love with Tashigi and he's just not telling her!"**

"**Really?" Usopp asked. "Must be shy then… wow. And I thought that Zoro was going to die alone."**

"**Me too!" Chopper nodded. "Isn't this weird! Well, I'll see you." He walked off and Usopp continued towards his workshop when he ran into Franky. "Hey, Franky, guess what I just heard from Chopper?"**

**Things were awkward at dinnertime. Everyone was awkwardly stiff, except for Luffy, who was readily helping himself to everyone's food, and Zoro and Tashigi, who were eating regularly and trying to figure out why everyone seemed to be staring at them, back and forth across the table.**

"**What is your guys' problem!" Zoro said finally. No one answered. They all exchanged knowing looks with each other. Sanji glared at Zoro intensely.**

**Meanwhile, Hina was leaning over the receiving end of the (as it turns out) red transponder snail, listening intently as it gargled out no sound.**

"_**WHAT IS YOUR GUYS' PROBLEM!" **_**the snail exploded suddenly. Hina jumped a little and wrote down on the notepad next to her, 'enemies being strangely quiet'.**

"_**Hey, Tashigi, why don't you come down to the galley with Robin and I after dinner? I've got a question to ask you."**_

"_**Um… uh, sure… I guess…" **_**Hina narrowed her eyes and recorded the conversation on the notepad. Normally, there was one of her men in the small room listening to the red snail's transmissions at all times, but Hina preferred to take the last hours of the day for herself. She had found that the most interesting information came through at night, ever since the night before a soldier had written down a transmission that seemed to reveal Mugiwara nearly swallowing Tony Tony Chopper whole.**

**Tashigi followed Nami and Robin into the galley and took a comfortable seat on the newly added couch. Robin and Nami sat down on either side of her.**

"**You are in such a perfect position," Nami snickered. "I'd almost be jealous, if it weren't **_**Zoro**_**…"**

"**Nami, don't discourage her," Robin said. She turned to Tashigi. "Tashigi-san, are you aware that the swordsman is in love with you?" Tashigi's cheeks grew fully red. Back in her own ship, Hina's eyes widened and she gaped. Tashigi's jaw dropped as well. "Wha- what?" she squeaked, covering her mouth with one hand.**

"**I heard it from Sanji," Nami said, winking. "Sanji said that he thought it was stupid, but Zoro was in love with you, and he wouldn't have Zoro act that way to any of us three… he heard it from Robin."**

"**I heard it from Brook," Robin said. "Brook heard it from Franky."**

"**Franky heard it from Usopp," Nami continued.**

"**Usopp heard it from Chopper."**

"**And Chopper heard it from Luffy, who heard it from Zoro," Nami finished. "We double checked everyone to make sure we got that right."**

"**Apparently he's so in love with you," Robin said. "Brook said something about him being so shy that he covered it up with an edge and was afraid of telling you… forbidden love, a pirate and a marine… you're a social leap above him…"**

"**Do you know what that means?" Nami said, grabbing Tashigi's shoulders. "Just act all cutesy around him and he'll do whatever you want! He'll keep Sanji away from you if you want to! **_**Seriously**_**," she added grouchily. Robin chuckled and whispered to Tashigi, "Nami's a little jealous because she used to be the only woman Sanji swooned over."**

"**I am not!" Nami denied.**

"**Wait," Tashigi said, cutting their argument short. "Something's not right. I don't even know Zoro too well, but I do know that he'd never tell something like that to Luffy, even if it were true."**

"**Zoro just may be a deep, intelligent man with feelings," Robin said sarcastically.**

"**Exactly," Tashigi muttered. "How would that make sense if he said that at all? I'm pretty sure he's just not interested in a relationship with anyone at all."**

"**Men," Nami scoffed. "Zoro just may be that cheap."**

"**You never know," Robin answered. "Sanji made a comment to Zoro about not attracting girls a few days before you came aboard. He's had time to think about that since then."**

"**Zoro is not a deep person," Tashigi said bluntly. "The only thing emotional about him, I'm sure, is his swordplay." She shouldered Shigure and pushed her glasses up onto her forehead. "Excuse me," she said, exiting quickly.**

**Hina picked up the den den mushi in her office and dropped into her chair after swapping shifts with another marine. She massaged her temples and waited out ten rings until Smoker picked up.**

"_**There's just no ignoring you, is there?"**_

"**Smoker-kun, Hina has bad news. One of the Mugiwara pirates has developed feelings for Sergeant Major Tashigi." A moment passed where Smoker said nothing, and then asked, **_**"Which one is it?"**_

"**The swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. We've picked up a transmission from his crewmates telling the sergeant."**

"_**I figured as much."**_

"**Tashigi believes they've misunderstood the swordsman, so it may be a possibility." Hina looked down at the map before her, tapping one dot with a pencil. "Is Smoker-kun still stuck on that island?"**

"_**Thanks for reminding me. How close are the Mugiwaras to Orange Ring Isle?"**_

"**A few days," Hina said irritably, propping her head up on one elbow and gritting her teeth. "Stop being so protective of Tashigi-**_**chama**_***."**

"_**If you're jealous, say so."**_

"**Hina is not jealous," Hina growled, snapping the pencil in two. Smoker sounded amused.**

"_**Give me a call if you find out anything else, Hina." **_**The captain hung up the den den mushi and so did Hina, respectively, throwing the pencil into a wastebasket. She let her eyes wander to the picture on her desk of herself and Smoker from their training days, back when her hair hadn't grown out as much and he wasn't as buff. "Hina had Smoker-kun first," she said aloud.**

**Tashigi tried once again to pull through Zoro's one-sword Shishi Sonson attack and stumbled on the last swipe of Shigure, sighing at the full feeling in her stomach. She shouldn't have accepted so much food that Sanji had made.**

"**You're reaching for your sword wrong," Zoro said. Tashigi jumped slightly and turned to look at him. He wasn't looking in her direction at all, but at the sky, which was becoming a dark shade of blue, heading into nighttime.**

"**What?" she said, confused. Zoro crossed the deck to her. With each footstep Tashigi felt her heart beat a little faster. What was this? Why hadn't this ever happened before? Zoro took the arm holding the sheathed Shigure and positioned it behind Tashigi's head, then moved the other arm backwards, behind her head to grip the hilt. "You're not holding your katana in the right place," he said. "Then you draw your sword and bring it forward," guiding her, "as you pass by your opponent." Tashigi felt her face burning red as Zoro guided her along the same move once more. "Now try without my help," he said. Tashigi unsurely returned Shigure to its sheath and stood very still, breathing in and out deeply. **

**As he watched her perform Shishi Sonson with less than a flaw, Zoro's mind went again to earlier that day, when he had watched Tashigi train and Luffy had made a wrong assumption. Zoro was sure that Luffy had found a way around his promise not to go and spread rumors; everyone had been acting oddly enough at dinner… how could he play it off? As he watched Tashigi flow through the movements, he got an idea and grinned slowly. He drew Wadou Ichimonji and blocked her last swipe, pushing Shigure away from him. "Fight me," he said, knowing she couldn't say no. Tashigi looked confused. "Why?" she said slowly.**

"**Because we are rivals," Zoro said loudly, looking around to make sure he had everyone's attention. The whole crew was watching subtly, except for Luffy, who was staring Zoro down again. "And you're always saying how you want to fight me." Tashigi raised an eyebrow and adjusted her glasses. "Uh-huh.." she muttered. "All… all right…" she stepped back and held Shigure ready, as did Zoro with Wadou.**

"**Luffy, call it," Zoro said.**

"**3, 2, 1, Go!" Luffy laughed. Zoro attacked first with a fierce upwards slash. Tashigi, startled, jumped back, but before she could regain herself Zoro lunged again.**

"**What's gotten into you?" Tashigi said, holding up Shigure to block.**

"**He can't keep away from her," Nami giggled to Robin on the upper deck. Zoro's eyebrow twitched and he pulled away from the 'X' he and Tashigi's swords were creating, swiping at her shoulders, which she again blocked. Tashigi finally pulled away and held Shigure before her, targeting Zoro, then ran past him, swiping at the nearest point on him. He sidestepped, spinning his upper body to block her sword again and pushing her backwards. Tashigi ducked under his arm and turned to catch Wadou, leaning back simultaneously. Wadou grazed the tips of her hair. Tashigi moved around Zoro, putting herself in between him and the stairs to the upper deck.**

**Zoro pulled back and attacked with Shishi Sonson just as Tashigi had the same idea and attacked with the same move. They both pivoted on one foot, miraculously unscathed, and moved around in a circle, focusing on each other intently, until Tashigi lowered Shigure to the ground, preparing to swipe upwards, and caught Zoro's ankle. He tripped ironically over Shigure and fell forward into the wall, hitting his head squarely on the wood, recovering to find that Wadou had slid behind Tashigi's head so that it pillowed her neck on the wall. Their faces were mere inches away from each other.**

**OOC… I'm just anxious to get this story along with Jishu as well… review please! ****J The * on Tashigi-chama… in case you didn't know, I read that adding '-chama' implies talking about a baby or something really cute. I'm a HinaxSmoker fan, so that's why I make Hina use '-chama', implying that Tashigi is too young for Smoker and so on…Ah, and then Next Time…**

"_**You didn't say anything, though," Nami pointed. "It couldn't have been you that made him mad; he's in love with you anyway."**_

"_**Yes," Tashigi said quietly. "Yes, but sometimes it's the ones that you love that hurt you the most…"**_


	7. Awkward

Zoro seems so OOC in this chapter. ^^ Sanji is, too…

Zoro stared at Tashigi's face, overwhelmed by their proximity. Kuina was in his mind, as she was when he ever crossed blades with Tashigi, but this time Kuina's image seemed in the background, sort of as if Tashigi was no longer playing it up. It was now hard to believe that all that time ago in Loguetown he had looked at Tashigi and, for a fleeting moment, had thought to himself, _Kuina_. Tashigi was a different person entirely. Having Tashigi around… almost smoothed over the tragedy that had been Kuina's death.

Tashigi's eyes were wide as Zoro continued to do nothing but stare down at her. His blade, which was still behind her head, was frighteningly chilling on the back of her neck. Shigure- where was Shigure? It took her a moment to realize that it she was still clutching the hilt in a downward position, nearly vertical to the deck. Why was she still holding it? She didn't know, but she couldn't drop it.

"Um…Zoro," she said quietly. Zoro's mind was still working. It didn't feel right. It was as if he was forgetting about Kuina so he could focus on Tashigi. He saw Tashigi's mouth move, but couldn't hear her say anything. They stood in an awkward silence until a hand popped out of nowhere and pushed Zoro in the back of the head, forcing Zoro's lips on Tashigi's. Laughter erupted from the far side of the deck and Zoro was quick to break the kiss. "ROBIN!" he roared, sliding his sword out of position and whipping around to face her.

"Yes, swordsman-kun," Robin said, smiling mischievously.

"I am going to kill you!" He held up Wadou Ichimonji and Kitetsu III fiercely. Robin only smiled and let her eyes wander to Tashigi's wide ones. "Are you alright, Tashigi-san?" Tashigi shook slightly before nodding and sheathing Shigure. "Ah… thanks for sparring with me, Zoro…" she said. Zoro didn't look at her. He stormed across the deck, opened the door and disappeared into the ship, slamming the door behind him. Tashigi stood awkwardly before everyone else before muttering a good-night and heading back to the women's quarters.

"Shishishi," Luffy giggled when they were both gone. "That was great, Robin!"

"Was that Tashigi's first kiss?" Nami asked, tilting her head to the side. "She looked overwhelmed."

"Zoro looks mad," Usopp observed with wide eyes. Sanji was red-faced with anger. "Tashigi-chan is much too beautiful and delicate for the likes of that moss-headed freak!"

"Calm down, cook-san," Robin said gently.

"It was kind of sweet," Chopper said with sparkly eyes.

"Well," said Brook, shrugging. "Let us hope the best for the new couple, then." He laughed, apparently seeing something funny about the situation that no one else got.

OOO

Tashigi snuck out past Nami and Robin late at night to sit on the railing and look up at the moon. It was confusing- she hadn't been as, say, mad as she should have been when Robin forced Zoro to kiss her. She felt like she needed guidance in the situation. Hina might have helped, but the closest to Hina she had was probably Robin. In other words, getting guidance wouldn't be easy.

Suddenly, a hand was on her shoulder, but for some reason she wasn't frightened.

"Should you really be sitting there? You're clumsy. You could fall." Zoro sat down on the railing beside her. "Come on. We have to discuss it sooner or later."

"We could pretend like it didn't happen," Tashigi suggested.

"It did happen," Zoro said.

"I know, but… what is there to discuss? You want to avenge Robin?" Zoro looked the other way.

"Yeah," he sad stiffly. "But…"

"But?" Zoro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You remember (A/N: back in chapter four) when I told you about Kuina, the swordswoman that looked like you?" Tashigi nodded and waited for him to go on. "Well, it was a hard loss. Looking at you, I always saw her. But when we were sparring tonight, I didn't think of her once. It was almost like I was trying to get the image of her back in my head; that's how confused I was. But the image wouldn't come back. It was all you." He finally looked back to her. "Maybe it's not so weird to you, but it is to me. I can't forget about Kuina. My goal is for Kuina." There was an awkward silence.

"Kuina… would have liked you, I think," Zoro said. "Maybe she wouldn't have joined the marines like you did, but she would have liked you." After a moment, he asked her, "Does Smoker believe you're in danger here?" Tashigi looked down into her lap and laced her fingers together. "I'm not sure," she answered. "Something weird's going on. The marine officers are all acting too… weak in the situation. Believe it or not, Smoker and Hina are some very strong marines. I honestly think that if they want me back, they would have gotten me by now." Zoro made a "hm" noise and leaned back. "In that case, maybe we as pirates should be concerned. Not very concerned. But concerned to a degree."

"Maybe they just don't want me," Tashigi chuckled. "I am a bit too klutzy for them to handle sometimes."

"When you say 'them'," Zoro said, "who are you talking about?"

"Smoker-san and Hina-san," Tashigi answered, as if it were obvious. "Well, most of the time it's Smoker-san, but Hina-san shows up so much that it seems like she's responsible for me, too. Don't you have someone you depend on?" Zoro snorted.

"I depend on no one," he said. "I can take care of myself. That just must be something you learn in the marines."

"That's not a very good attitude to have," Tashigi said. "Every child depends on his mother."

"Wow. Deep. Really," Zoro said sarcastically. He looked down at Shigure on Tashigi's belt. "You know, your sword kinda favors Kuina's style, too. It's really strange." Tashigi fingered Shigure's hilt. "Do any of your crewmates know?" she asked. "About Kuina?" Zoro smiled. "No," he said. "Just you. But I still don't trust you," he added, patting her on the head. Tashigi smiled back. "So we'll forget about earlier today, then?" she asked. "It won't ever happen again?" Zoro smirked mischievously and winked.

"Ah, maybe," he said. Tashigi swatted at him playfully and he chuckled. "I'm going to bed, blueberry head," he said. "You should go to sleep, too, before you fall off that rail." Tashigi stuck her tongue out at him. "Night," she said, looking down at the bottomless black and blue waters. "Zoro."

Tashigi woke late the next morning. Everyone was already out on deck but Sanji and Zoro. Zoro must have still been sleeping. She was going to pass by the kitchen and ask Sanji if he had some leftovers from breakfast. Right before she put her hand on the knob, though, she heard Sanji yell, "Seriously!" and then laugh hysterically.

"It's not funny, curly brow!" yelled Zoro's voice. "Quiet before someone hears you!"

"I just never thought it would happen," Sanji chuckled. "The infamous Roronoa Zoro coming to me for girl advice because he's in _looooove_."

"Shut up," Zoro said weakly. Tashigi looked through the window at them. Sanji was smirking, leaning against the countertop with his arms crossed while Zoro sat backwards in a chair at the table with his head resting on his folded arms.

"Anyway," Sanji said, returning to his job of chopping up some vegetables, "How much experience have you had with girls, none? You're not an easy type to work with, but I'll help you for the sake of the poor lady. If you're gonna be in here, though, at least get to work and help me make lunch. " Zoro got up and took a knife himself, surprisingly obedient. "Alright, so when do I tell her?" he asked.

"Tell her?" Sanji repeated. He took a wooden spoon from the drawer and hit Zoro on the wrist with it.

"What was that for, dartboard!"

"Zoro, it's way too early for that! You have to be subtle about it. You could smile, for one thing- well, depending on if she would get creeped out or not- why won't you tell me who it is? Give me two guesses."

"No," Zoro said. "Just- aren't you supposed to, I dunno, give her a gift or something?"

"That's a good idea," Sanji said, scraping onion slices into a bowl. "But I'd be better off helping you if you told me who it is."

"Fine, fine! It's-" Tashigi leaned forward to hear when Luffy flew out of nowhere and crashed into her, swinging the door open and throwing both of them to the floor. "Hehehe!" Luffy said, popping back up to his feet. "That was fun, Usopp! Hey, Sanji, I'm hungry! Zoro, are you cooking, too? Good; we'll have more food!" Sanji set his knife down and came over to help Tashigi up. "Luffy, you've got to stop barreling into people like that! Tashigi-chan could have gotten hurt!"

"Oh?" Luffy said, looking up at Tashigi. "Hehe. I didn't see you there."

"I'm fine, Sanji," Tashigi said, adjusting her glasses. "Thank you." She hurriedly excused herself and went back out onto the deck, forgetting all about asking Sanji for leftovers. After Sanji had finally gotten Luffy out of the kitchen and closed the door, he turned to Zoro and smirked. "I saw that look on your face," he said. "Tashigi-chan is beautiful, Zoro. Maybe you're smarter than you look." Zoro covered his face with his hand- it was turning red. "Shut up," he said again.

"Oh, I'm just glad it's not Nami-swan or Robin-chan," Sanji said. "Then maybe we'd have a problem."

"Can't you just pick one?" Zoro muttered. "You're a real creep, you know that?"

Tashigi was confused for the rest of the day. She trained by herself, slower than usual, afraid to perform Shishi Sonson in case Zoro appeared on deck. She had such a strange feeling inside of her. First everyone was saying that Zoro was in love with her, and yet after the… fighting incident… he had seemed angry, and now he was going to Sanji for girl advice. Maybe Luffy misunderstood Zoro? The captain hadn't said that Zoro had straight-out mentioned Tashigi being the girl he was in love with.

Tashigi shrieked and dropped Shigure with a loud clang. What was she thinking? She didn't care! She was a marine; these were filthy, money-grabbing pirates! With shaking hands she retrieved Shigure and looked down to the lower deck to check for any sight of Zoro. The coast was clear, and she started downstairs.

Zoro came out of the door to the deck very confused. Sanji's advice sounded mainly like the stuff he tried to win Nami and Robin over with all the time. Did he not understand that that sort of thing didn't work with Tashigi? The first mate sighed loudly and scratched his head, moving over towards the railing where he planned to sit down and try to sleep his thoughts away. Maybe he'd be over the klutzy marine when he woke up.

Nami and Robin watched the both of them from the opposite deck in the comfort of shade and a couple of tropical juices from Sanji.

"Should I be mischievous again?" Robin asked, flourishing another arm from her own.

"Go ahead," Nami said with a chuckle.

"Alright, then. Here we go." An arm sprouted instantly from the center of Tashigi's back and reached up to give her a hard shove right in the head. Zoro looked up at her screech and his eyes widened visibly as he saw her trip on the stair. He hurried forward and threw his arms out as she fell, catching her safely and tightening his hold. Tashigi's glasses bounced off her forehead and clattered onto the deck. Zoro looked down at Tashigi. She was blushing wildly, eyes wide, and her arms were wrapped around him, her hands clutching the back of his shirt scaredly. He blinked and let go of her quickly.

"Are you crazy!" he yelled, pointing at the staircase. "You could have been killed! Put your glasses on!" He picked the glasses up and shoved them back at Tashigi. The man listening to the transponder snail listened carefully as muffled laughter entered through the transmission.

"You sure are concerned about her," Nami said, winking.

"Shut up!" Zoro said. "You should all be, too! What if she had died or broke a bone or something!"

"Zoro, relax," Tashigi said. "I'm fine. I fall all the time… it was only a few stairs." Zoro's eyes widened again, and then they narrowed. Without another word, he stormed off and slammed the door behind him, heading straight to the men's quarters.

"Should someone go give Zoro some food?" said Chopper at dinnertime, looking around. "I don't think it's good for him to exert himself with training the way he does and not eat.""I already tried," Sanji said. "Marimo called me a pansy and slammed the door in my face." Tashigi looked down at her plate guiltily. "I think," she said, attracting the attention of everyone else, "that it may have been me that made him angry."

"You didn't say anything, though," Nami pointed. "It couldn't have been you that made him mad; he's in love with you anyway."

"Yes," Tashigi said quietly. "Yes, but sometimes it's the ones that you love that hurt you the most…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Usopp said, waving it off. "Why, I once loved someone- she was beautiful, valiant- but our love could never be, for I, the great captain Usopp, am a warrior of the sea. I promised her my return someday to claim her, and then our own adventures would continue…" he rambled on into a story and Tashigi found herself actually listening to it along with Chopper. Usopp's story went on to tell how he had fought sea kings, the roaring tide, and villains whose cruelty was unimaginable, while every day the woman was on his mind and served as his motivation. Tashigi leaned her chin into her hand and let Usopp's words linger in her mind as he spoke them aloud. Was this what being in love was? Then maybe… well, Tashigi did think about her re-match with Zoro every day while training aboard Smoker's ship. Zoro was indeed the one who drove her forward… But if Zoro was, as Luffy claimed, in love with her, did he feel the same way? She let the fact of Zoro and his crew being pirates slip away as she thought.

Tashigi's mind traveled back to Bell Island when she was walking back with Zoro from Bell Cove, and how he had told her about his childhood friend Kuina. She was his motivation; the thing that kept him on his way to reaching his goal… so maybe she was just a reminder of Kuina to him? She tried to remember what he had said about Kuina. She had died. Tashigi favored her greatly.

"And so my flight around the word continues," Usopp nodded. "I, the great captain Usopp, have yet to return to my love." Tashigi remembered suddenly and sat straight up, causing the table to shake slightly as her knees bumped the underside.

"Um, you okay, Tashigi?" Nami asked.

"_But she died the next day, tripping down a flight of stairs."_ Tashigi realized that she had messed up.

"_I fall all the time… it was only a few stairs."_ Tashigi excused herself and left her plate on the table, barely touched. She headed out onto the deck and followed her gut feeling to the ladder to the crow's nest and climbed up, pushing on the trap door.

"Go away," Zoro said through the wood.

"No," Tashigi said, hitting the door again. "Open this door. I have to talk to you." After a moment, the door rattled and Zoro pulled it open, turning his back on her to pick up a book he pretended to be interested in as she pulled herself into the actual room.

"Look, Zoro," she said, dropping the door shut. "I'm really sorry about what I said earlier, and I'd be pleased if you would accept my apology maturely. I didn't realize that what I was saying hurt you."

"I'm not _hurt_," Zoro scoffed, turning on her. "It made me mad to think that you could have died up there, I saved you, and you don't even care!"

"I… appreciate that you helped me," Tashigi said awkwardly, "but you… I have to say, you overreacted…"

"Overreacted!" Zoro demanded. "I lost someone very important to me in the same way it almost happened to you!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Tashigi said. "I'm a grown woman, Zoro! Your friend was only a child; it was different!" Zoro fumed, but ran out of words to say. He settled down onto the couch. Tashigi waited a minute for him to cool off and then sat beside him. "Zoro, did you love Kuina?" Zoro's gaze shifted to her, and then he looked at the ground. "I don't know," he said. "I thought she was pretty, I remember. She made me feel happy. She served as motivation. I'm not sure if it counted as love." Tashigi nodded and looked down at the floor as well.

"Do you love Smoker?" the question was sudden and it made Tashigi confused. "No," she said. "I think Smoker-san and Hina-san have some sort of relationship… he's more like a father." (A/N: But I am also a TashigixSmoker fan if Zoro and Tashigi never happen ^.^)

"I see," Zoro nodded. "Not into his type, huh? He's a huge guy. Makes him look kind of dumb, in my opinion."

"Smoker-san is not dumb!" Tashigi raged, jumping to her feet. "I say nothing about Luffy, so don't you dare start on Smoker!"

"Is that your way of calling Luffy dumb?" Zoro asked. He looked up at the ceiling. "Well, Luffy is pretty dumb sometimes." Tashigi's eyes found Wadou Ichimonji by Zoro's side and she changed the subject. "You said the Wadou Ichimonji was Kuina's sword."

"Maybe I told you too much, then," Zoro said, taking the katana from its place. "Why do you appreciate it so much?" Tashigi adjusted her glasses. "I have an appreciation for all the well-crafted katanas," she said. "I think that one's special, though. You seem to hold it dear to you, and it's clearly lasted the test of time." Zoro nodded and another silence started.

"We owe Robin a lot more revenge now," Tashigi smiled lightly. "It's… exciting, being onboard with you pirates." Zoro leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling again. "It was exciting back when it was just me and Luffy," he said. "I think it gets more exciting every time we pick someone up. They're all trouble in some way." Tashigi chuckled. "I can tell," she said. "Do you want me to get you some food? You really should eat." Zoro opened one eye and smirked at her. "You sound awfully worried," he said.

"Dream on," Tashigi answered. "I do like the freedom on this ship, though. Able to move around and do whatever whenever you want…"

"All you do is train," Zoro pointed out.

"Yes, but all _you _do is train," Tashigi said. "I have rest time, too, onboard here. On the marine ship, it's a whole lot different. Someone like you would be surprised," she looked down into her lap. "I mean, it's okay and all, but it's like Smoker doesn't…think… about how his words affect people. He can be rude, and I don't want to say anything… and Hina, she infuriates him with the way she talks… maybe what I'm trying to say is that Smoker's short fuse is aggravating."

"I have a short fuse, too," Zoro said.

"You're different," Tashigi said, waving it off. "I can see the reason that you're mad most of the time."

She removed her glasses to rub the lenses. "I just wish I knew why I'm so comfortable here and not there." Only a brief silence passed before they both turned to each other and said something.

"What?" they both said. "You first." Tashigi cleared her throat. "I was going to ask you if, er," she tapped her fingertips together, "if what I heard from Nami and Robin is true… they said," she laughed nervously, "that you were…in love with me…" When she got no response, she forced a laugh. "Isn't that… funny?…"

"No," Zoro said, willing himself not to blush. "It's… something to think about."

"What?" Tashigi repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Luffy was the one who proposed the idea, alright?" Zoro said. "I told him not to spread a rumor around, but somehow he did anyway. I don't know." He stood up and crossed the room to pick up a weight. Tashigi followed him curiously.

"But I heard you in the kitchen this morning asking Sanji for girl advice," she said. All color seemed to leave Zoro. He put a finger in her face. "Don't you _dare_ tell anyone about that," he said. "And how do you suppose I was talking about you, anyway? Maybe I'm in love with Nami."

"Well, you don't seem to like Nami very much at all," Tashigi answered, eyeing her nail job.

"I don't really like any of the girls aboard, including you. Maybe it's _you_ who's in love with _me_!"

"You're ridiculous," Tashigi said. "That's no attitude to have."

"I'm not in love with you," Zoro growled in finality. Tashigi nodded, considering, and then said, "You seemed awfully embarrassed when Robin forced you to kiss me."

"That wasn't a kiss," Zoro said. "I can't even remember it. It bothered me because Robin is a cheat and I still don't trust her much."

"If you say so," Tashigi said, ruffling his hair as she passed him. "Night, Zoro."

"Good_night_," Zoro said stiffly. He shut the door hard after she descended and sighed loudly, running a hand through his hair. "That was close," he muttered.

**Next Time…**

**She touched a hand on his shoulder shyly. "I mean, justice is always changing. Mine just changed, and a lot more than you'll ever know."**


	8. Orange Ring Isle

I had a Zoro moment on the day I'm writing some of this. I just started school on the seventh, and it's the eighth today. So I was coming back from lunch and there's supposed to be stairs like *right there*, next to the main office. Somehow I completely missed the stairs and just kept walking and walking until I was pretty much the only one in the hallway. I *finally* found the stairs and climbed all the way up there to find that somehow while I was on the bottom floor, I had walked all the way to the other end of the school… -_-. I'm going to start following someone who knows where they're going.

Tashigi was dreaming soundly. There were calm blue waters lifting a beautiful ship on its waves… and then the ship's flag was black and was imprinted with a white skull with smoke billowing from its partially opened mouth. She was strolling along the deck in white shirt and black pants with a bandana tied across her forehead. She leaned back against the railing and looked behind her just as another ship appeared out of nowhere. This time it was a large, cannon-loaded ship with big white sails marked "LUFFY MARINE". At the helm of this ship stood Luffy with his hair slicked back, wearing a marine captain's coat and something resembling Sengoku's hat on his head, figured to be a monkey rather than a bird. Smoker came onto the deck of her ship in a small-looking red vest and a pair of denim shorts.

"Ready to go get those losers, Tashigi!" he laughed. "Come on, let's go!" He suddenly threw both arms forward and they stretched to grab onto the other ship's mast and he flung himself over along with Tashigi…

"Hey, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Luffy's voice came through the door to the womens' quarters as he pounded on the wood, rousing Tashigi and the other two girls. Without a second thought he threw the door open and barged right on in. "Nami, get up!" he said, taking a fallen pillow from the ground and poking her with it. "I see an island!" he was hopping on the balls of his feet excitedly. Tashigi wondered if he always greeted a new island like this.

"Luffy, get out of here!" Nami said, throwing her own pillow at his head. "We won't land for another hour or two, okay! Sheesh!" Luffy looked around and spotted Tashigi looking at him. Through her blurred vision, he looked like he was tilting his head to one side. "You look reeeeally different without your glasses," he observed. He picked her glasses up and put them on, then blinked. "Woah!" he said. "This is so weird! Everything's all blurry!"

"Luffy!" Nami said. "Out! Now!" She pointed to the door. Luffy giggled and put Tashigi's glasses back in place. "Okay," he said. "Goodniiiight!" The captain walked out and slammed the door loudly behind him. Nami found another pillow and covered her head with it, groaning, "It's way too early to be waking up."

"We might as well make the most of it, Nami," Robin said, getting out of bed and stretching. "How about you, Tashigi-san? Are you getting up yet?"

"I guess," Tashigi said, not sure she was ready to return to Monkey D. Smoker in her dream land.

"You two can go ahead, then," Nami muttered. "I'm going to try to sleep while I can."

It turned out that many others had chosen to follow Nami's example. Because Luffy was up, Sanji was forced to be in the kitchen or face the captain's wrath. Usopp, Franky, and Brook were nowhere to be seen, however. Zoro wasn't exactly "up", for somehow he had come to fall asleep against the railing outside. The weather was very crisp and cool, and a light mist hung in the air. At this time of day on a Marine ship, Tashigi would probably be heading to train…

"It will be warmer later on," Robin chuckled, opening a book and settling down into a chair on the deck. Tashigi lifted an eyebrow. "How do you suppose?" she asked.

"Because Nami-san is grouchy this morning," Robin answered. "Not that she isn't always… she's not a morning person… but she's especially grouchy. On a normal day, Nami would have gotten up early and not bothered trying to sleep some more. For some reason when Nami is extra grouchy it means it will be hot outside. Chopper-kun and I have scientifically proven it," she chuckled. Tashigi decided to nod and not ask about it.

"So," Robin said casually, glancing at the marine slyly, "What did you and the swordsman speak about the night before last? I noticed you heading out so naturally I decided to make sure you weren't being mischievous." Tashigi blushed lightly, her embarrassment twisting in with anger towards Robin for making Zoro kiss her. "Nothing much," she said tightly.

"It seems that you two are on okay terms," Robin said.

"We are. It helps that we're both swordsmen."

"It looks like you're finally getting comfortable here. You might be with us for awhile yet." Zoro somehow heard this last part and groaned playfully, smirking.

"Oh, shut up," Tashigi said, smiling in spite of herself. Something inside of her said that she wouldn't mind staying with the Mugiwaras for a while more.

"Alright, idiots, breakfast," Sanji called down the hallway to the mens' quarters. He ducked out the other way to call down the women's hallway, "Nami-swan, breakfast!" It didn't take long for everyone to file in, headed by Luffy who attempted to devour everything on the table before anyone could sit down. Sanji set down three pre-prepared plates for the girls routinely. After some consideration, Zoro seated himself beside Tashigi. This seemed to make everyone but Luffy stop and stare; the captain was too busy stuffing his face. One look from Zoro got everyone back into their own conversations and the noisiness started up again.

"You know where we're going, right?" Zoro asked her. "Orange Ring Isle. I thought I'd warn you before we got there to watch your footing." Tashigi thought back to when she had first heard the name of that island and her eyes widened when she remembered that Smoker had specifically warned her never to go there.

"Um, I don't remember that much about it," she said. "Remind me?"

"Orange Ring Isle is small," Robin said from her left, "but very, very dangerous. Pirates head into the deepest part of its jungle to try and find the legendary treasure hidden there and all of them are never seen again." She looked Tashigi over and added, "You might want to stay with the swordsman when we split up. You have a decent directional sense and he can keep you from hurting yourself."

"Why do I always have to be in charge of her?" Zoro growled.

"Because you're the one who brought her on board, swordsman-san," Robin answered, taking a sip of her drink. Tashigi rested her chin in her hand and thought. Orange Ring Isle. There was something dangerous about it, yes, but what was it?

Luffy's hand creeping up to her plate distracted her. She took the slice of ham he was reaching for and threw it to him as a seal trainer might do with a fish.

"Thank you!" Luffy said with his mouth unrealistically full.

"Well," Zoro said, leaning back. "I'm ready for this place. Sounds dangerous. Maybe we'll find some of those creepy newfound life forms there."

"Maybe," Robin said.

Tashigi remembered. She remembered well. Orange Ring Isle drew steadily closer, looking like a huge stretch of gray rock and then a tall green jungle threatening its visitors. As they got very close, it was easy to see thin lines of orange snaking between the rock- the orange rings, or, namely, big, deep trenches filled with orange and red white-hot lava.

"Sweet!" Luffy laughed, the first off the ship as usual. This time Nami grabbed him by the back of his vest before he could run off.

"Okay," she called. "Who's on Luffy duty today?" Usopp sighed.

"That'd be me," he said, raising a hand half-heartedly. He came to take hold of Luffy from Nami as Nami explained how the island worked.

"Okay," she said. "The log pose has to set, so we have to be out of here in exactly twelve hours. It's eleven AM now. Our mission on this island is to make me rich and come out as the only pirates to have ever lived to tell the tale of Orange Ring Isle. Now, you have to be careful, because watch this." The navigator picked up a stray pebble from the ground and tossed it over to what looked like a pothole in the ground. An orange geyser shot up into the sky, complete with steam.

"That will definitely hurt if you touch it," Nami told Luffy pointedly. "Tashigi, you'd better hope you left your clumsiness on the ship today. Anyway, we're going to split up into five groups of two. Usopp and Luffy are group number one. Brook and Chopper, group number two. Tashigi and Zoro, you're group number three, here's a compass for Zoro in case you get lost- and group number four is Sanji and Franky, and then me and Robin. Everyone got that? _Don't you dare lose each other_. And Zoro," she said, sticking a finger in his face. "We're docked on the west side of the island. And you had better know where the sun sets by now, _right_?" Zoro rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid, Nami," he growled. When Nami turned around, however, he looked behind him to the sun and to the compass Tashigi was holding.

"Hey," he said suddenly. "We're not docked in the west. The compass is pointing northeast." He showed the compass to Nami, who sighed. "Zoro, the red part of the compass always points North," she said. "What you just said doesn't even make any sense."

"Sure it does," Zoro protested as the crew split up. Tashigi started to laugh. "Hey, shut up, blueberry head! Look, it makes sense! We're standing like this, and that's the 'W', which is for west, right? And North's right there, so why's it pointing northeast if it's supposed to always be pointing north?" Tashigi just continued laughing and tugged on Zoro's arm. "Let's go," she said. "Let me hold the compass," she added, taking it.

The first lava-filled trench they came to was wide and deep. Zoro grunted. "I wish I would have gotten paired up with Luffy," he muttered. "So this is about what, seven feet across? Wait, am I the only one paired up with someone who has no way of getting across this gap?" Tashigi thought. "Um, yes," she concluded, nodding. "We'll figure something out, though. Let's see… I wonder how hot the lava is…" Zoro stared. "Are you stupid?" he said. "It's bubbling. That means it'll probably scald your skin off if you even think about touching it." Tashigi glared at him. "_Actually_," she said, gesturing around them, "I was thinking that we're surrounded by rocks. If we can find some that are really flat and light, we could throw one onto one of those potholes…"

"And get ourselves blasted into the air?" Zoro said. "We could _die_!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Tashigi shot back. Zoro dug his hands into his pockets and thought."Hey!" he said suddenly.

"What?" Tashigi asked, turning around. Zoro held up a small silver object. "I found the handcuff key."(A/N: from chapter five.)

"Idiot," Tashigi muttered. Suddenly, a hand sprouted from the ground and tugged on Tashigi's ankle, then pointed ahead. Robin was standing several hundred feet away. "Grab on," she called, and another hand sprouted from the first, and so on until there was a whole arch of them over the gap. Tashigi hesitated.

"Will she drop me?" she said to Zoro in an undertone. "Maybe we should go at the same time…"

"She might drop _me_," was Zoro's answer, and they stood and stared.

"Come on," Robin called. "You'll be fine." Tashigi unsurely grabbed onto the first hand above her height. It was a strange feeling to grab all these different hands one after another, but she managed to pull herself across the gap, followed by Zoro. They hurried to meet up with Robin and Nami.

"Everyone else is much further ahead," Robin mused. "My method is very slow. I believe Luffy and Usopp got there in one fling. Chopper, of course, only had seven minutes to get over there, so of course he and Brook got there fairly quickly."

"It's hot out here," Nami complained as Robin began an arch over the next lava trench.

"If we hurry, we can make it into the shade," Robin said as Nami pulled herself across the trench. "Swordsman-san, you're next." Zoro heaved himself over the lava pit and then Robin followed suit, leaving Tashigi to be the last one over. Robin exchanged a wink with Nami and one of the hands clearly snapped its fingers up and dropped Tashigi. The marine screeched at the lava beneath her for help, grabbing in the air senselessly as the air around her heated up quickly. She suddenly felt a hand on hers. She gripped onto it and it pulled her up, then into someone's chest.

"That wasn't funny, Robin! I saw you do that!" Zoro said, letting Tashigi out of his grasp. "You two are sick!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about, swordsman-san," Robin said. "My most heartfelt apologies, Tashigi-san. You must have slipped."

Seven orange rings later, Robin was the last to touch the land before the jungle that rose up before them. "Shall we go our separate ways, then?" Robin said, waving. "We'll go this way. You guys just try not to get lost, okay?" Just like that, they were gone. Zoro scratched his head and looked up at the trees looming over them. "Hm," he said. "I wonder what's in there. Let's go find out." The first mate led the way into the jungle.

The first opening they came to was snaked with heavy vines and had mud-holes sinking into the ground everywhere. Tashigi kept one hand on Shigure for comfort, occasionally checking the compass.

"So," Zoro said, swatting away some mosquitoes with the back of his hand. "What's your story? I told you mine." Tashigi looked up at his back and shrugged, though he couldn't see her. "I don't really have a story," she answered. "No valiant causes or efforts… no childhood promises… I heard some old marines sharing stories when I was young of the cruel things pirates such as Gol D. Roger had done and how they were brought to justice and figured that it sounded good to me." Zoro turned to raise an eyebrow at her and shrugged. "If that's how you feel, it's valiant enough," he said. "Me, I never would have dreamed of being a pirate. Luffy hoaxed me into it with my swords as captives." Tashigi smiled slightly. "Your adventures are so much more exciting," she admitted. "As opposed to Smoker-san and I capturing small-name pirates, constantly pursuing you Mugiwaras. Now you're all right here, and…" she trailed off and then asked, "Roronoa-san, may I ask you something?" Zoro shrugged one shoulder. "You're going to anyway," he pointed out. Tashigi rubbed her arm restlessly. "Well, I've had this feeling that-" A high pitched, salivated screech cut through her words, stopping her. The beating of wings came from all around and a shadow steadily fell across them. Zoro and Tashigi looked up to see a huge bird hovering above them, beating its wings to keep itself in the air. Its feathers were silver and glistened in the sunlight and its head was pink and a combination with the likeliness of a vulture and a lizard at once. Its feet were webbed and waved strangely in the air as it floated over them.

"Sweet," Zoro grinned, drawing his swords and placing Wadou in his mouth. "Ready to bring in some dinner back there, marine?" Tashigi narrowed her eyes and drew Shigure, taking stance. As it turned out, the bird charged first, snapping out at them in an attempt to swallow them up. Zoro dove under its long head and headed for its feet, which had landed on the ground. With ease he leaped onto the top of one webbed foot and then onto the creature's back. Tashigi charged forward as the bird pecked down at her again and rounded around in and out of its legs, causing it to turn around in order to keep track of her.

"Oi, quit playing around!" Zoro called unsteadily. "You know how hard it is to balance on this thing?" The bird squawked brilliantly and nailed a peck right at Tashigi, who blocked the beak with Shigure and ran to the bird's other webbed foot. She concentrated and forced the tip of her katana into the foot and the bird yelled loudly, flapping its wings, unsettling Zoro's balance. Zoro tumbled down one of the huge silver wings and grabbed on to its end, leaving a gap between him and the ground of about twenty feet. "Tashigi, stop it!" he growled. "This stupid bird's feathers are slippery!"

"That's not my fault!" Tashigi said, pulling Shigure from the bird's foot. It thrashed its powerful wings and suddenly lifted off from the ground even higher, beginning to fly away. With a yell and a crash, Zoro fell from the bird's wing and landed on the ground, clutching two long silver feathers in his hands. Tashigi ran over to him. "Zoro are you okay- ooh, they're so pretty up close!" Tashigi grabbed one of the feathers from him and held it close to her face to observe it better. It was actually a silvery-white that when you turned it in the light, a spectrum of colors washed across it. Zoro sat up and grunted, rubbing his head. He looked to the other feather in his hand. "Yeah, thanks for caring," he said. "Where do you suppose that bird went?" Tashigi shrugged. 'Maybe its nest is towards the center of the jungle," she said, tucking the feather in her pocket. Zoro pocketed his too and they kept on going.

"Why'd you keep yours?" Tashigi asked, furrowing her brow. Zoro shrugged. "Maybe I can sell it to Nami," he said. "She likes shiny stuff, and some feathers are valuable… or something…" he said, scratching his head. They continued walking around mudholes, Zoro at the front slicing down vines.

"So," he said. "You were saying something before." Tashigi looked down at the ground again and sniffed. "Well," she said, adjusting her brown leather gloves, "I was just thinking that… well… have you ever been somewhere and… it's not where you belong, but somehow it just… feels right?"

"Hmm," Zoro said. "No, not really… oh, wait," he stopped for a moment, scratching his chin. "Well, I guess once, a long time ago… back when I was a bounty hunter with Johnny and Yosaku, we went after this guy and took him to the marines… you know how it works. Anyway, Yosaku got seriously sick, so we were stuck there on the island for a long time. Well, Johnny rushes off to the hospital with him when he starts acting really strange, leaving me some note after I got out of the shower to come up to the hospital to meet them… and…" Zoro scratched his head, a little embarrassed, "Well… I got lost. Seriously lost. While I was lost I floated around for awhile and the place reminded me of my hometown so much. I even got sidetracked watching the kids at the dojo. By the time Yosaku was better, I didn't want to leave. It took a rumor that Mihawk was spotted near the Calm Belt somewhere to get me off that island. Now that I think about it, it wasn't that great…" Tashigi nodded understandably.

"Zoro, I have a feeling. I… feel that way about being onboard your ship. I want to stay," she admitted, blushing as Zoro turned to stare at her. "It's… a weird feeling, but… I like it better with your crew than aboard Smoker-kun's ship. I mean, Luffy is clearly a strong-willed captain and he has picked remarkable crew members, although I question Nami and Robin's positions sometimes." She touched a hand on his shoulder shyly. "I mean, justice is always changing. Mine just changed, and a lot more than you'll ever know." Zoro raised his eyebrows and the two stood in an awkward silence for a few passing moments.

"Eh, you're not exactly a 'hostage' either," Zoro said. "We had a ship meeting the other day when you were the last to get up. Luffy likes you. When Luffy likes someone, he sticks with them."

"Are you saying that he'd let me stay?" Tashigi asked, fiddling around with her fingers nervously. "I mean, at the same time it's not what I think I want…" Zoro crossed his arms and exhaled. "I don't know," he said. "Luffy's also insistent that Smoker wants you back as his nakama." Tashigi looked down at the ground.

"Smoker-kun's wants aren't mine, though," she said quietly. "Then again, not even I am sure of what I want." Zoro leaned forward suddenly, making Tashigi uncomfortable.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"You've got a," Zoro tried to explain; he pried something tiny off of the arm of her glasses and held it up to try and look at it. "It's a little red bug… or something…" The first mate held it up closely to his eyes. "It- almost looks like a snail. Like a transponder snail, but… way, way tinier… and red…"

"Hm," Tashigi said. "Maybe… it got on me somehow when we were walking in here?" Zoro shook his head.

"Even you would have noticed something crawling on you, right? And it's… so still." The swordsman dropped it into Tashigi's palm. "Maybe someone on board will know what it is?" she suggested.

"Maybe," Zoro muttered, looking suspicious.

"WOOOHOO!" Luffy laughed, swinging on the vines very monkey-like above Usopp's head as the marksman attempted to read a map Nami had supplied for them.

"Robin has books about everything," Usopp muttered, turning the map over several times in his hands. "Everything. She has a book on pretty much anything you can think of. So why can't they be in _our_ language!"

"Hey, Usopp! Look at what I found!" Luffy swung upside down right in front of Usopp, accompanied by a similar-looking, sort of miniature baboon. It was golden-colored, with a long tail. Luffy laughed. "Isn't it cool? Watch what he does when you pull his tail!"

"Luffy!" Usopp interjected before Luffy could show him what exactly the monkey did when its tail was pulled. "That's not necessary. Can you get down from there and help me read this map!" Luffy chuckled and dropped to the ground, the monkey following suit and landing on his shoulder. "Oh, I can't read maps very well," he said. "That's why we have Nami!" Usopp sighed.

"Fine," he said. "You say the treasure is supposed to be near the middle of the jungle, right? Well this map says we're… eh… is there water nearby? Pools of lava? Orange geysers? Anything?"

"Nope," Luffy said. "Well, I accidentally stepped on an orange geyser, and that was pretty fun! But when I was up in the air all I saw was a really tall rock. Come on, let's go climb it! Maybe the treasure's up there!" The captain readily pulled himself up onto a vine again. Usopp shivered and followed suit slowly.

Brook hummed to himself as he walked while Chopper kept glancing around him nervously, expecting some sort of attack at any moment. Occasionally an orange geyser would shoot up from the ground, causing Chopper to scream every time. Brook looked over to him and said, "Calm yourself, Chopper. You're rattling worse than I am." While Brook laughed about that Chopper fixed him with a fierce look. "It's not funny!" he insisted. "There could be all sorts of creepy things in these woods!"

"What, I'm not enough for you? Yohohoho!" Brook sighed happily. "Don't worry, boy, we'll be out of here soon enough. With treasure," he added, chuckling. "You see that rock up there? Let's go climb it. I'll bet there's a load of treasure at the top." Chopper followed Brook unsurely. "If you think so," he muttered.

"Ugh. This place is so gross." Nami pulled her sandal out of a mud puddle for the fifth time. "This treasure had better be good." As a swarm of mosquitoes began buzzing around her head she sighed and corrected, "Actually, for all this, this thing had better be the One Piece."

"Nami, finding the One Piece will be much, much harder than this," Robin said, swatting the mosquitoes away from her friend with a few extra hands. The archaeologist referred to the book she was carrying; the one from which Usopp had gotten his map. "It says here that Orange Ring Isle has been studied very carefully for many, many years but has never been very accurately mapped. Anything could be in these jungles. Sightings include large birds with silver wings and feathers that will sell for roughly four hundred thousand beri apiece, large turtles with shells of gold, and the occasional golden baboon which has a knack for grass, straw, cattail, and many other plants. There is also said to be something with a big shadow occasionally seen- something about rare sightings…"

"Four hundred thougsand beri?" Nami asked in disbelief. "For one feather? Sanji could get us the whole bird if we asked."

"I wonder if the bird is dangerous," Robin said. "Hm… aha. We're looking for a really tall rockform… oh my," she smiled at the book. "This should be interesting,"

"Let's climb this rock," Sanji said, pointing up ahead. "Think treasure's at the top?"

"Definitely," Franky said, nodding. "Why would you put it anywhere else?"

"Good point," Sanji muttered.

Luffy came close to the rock on his vine and looked down at it with a big grin. "Oi, Usopp!" he called. 'Watch this!" Suddenly, Luffy brought back one of his fists and slammed it into the side of the rock.

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It's not a rock!" was Luffy's answer, and suddenly the "rock" rumbled and rose from the ground, spraying dust and clods of dirt up all around it. From all sides, seven pairs of eyes widened and Brook stared as the so-called 'rock' lashed its huge, flat head and held its tail ready as a weapon. The creature's head was flat-like and quite resembled a boulder, excepting two stone spikes extending from its jaws. Its skin was hard and leathery gray-green right down to its tail, which could be no better described than what looked like a gigantic stone sea urchin.

"This is so cool!" Luffy giggled. The creature looked his way and uttered what sounded like a growl. "I wonder what it- oh, my hat!" In the next moment the tiny golden baboon had seized Luffy's hat and was swinging away with it. "Come back! That's mine!" Luffy swung after the monkey, leaving the rest of his crew to the "rock" monster.

"Zoro, did you hear that?" Tashigi asked, looking around.

"Yeah," Zoro said, grabbing Wadou's hilt. "Think the rest of them are in trouble?" Not a moment later, a golden-haired baboon with a long tail and a straw hat on its head swung right over their heads, and, as they stared, so did Luffy, screaming at it to give him his hat back. A moment later, a roar came from in the direction opposite of the way they had been heading. Zoro decided for Tashigi that they were heading towards the roar.

The rock monster was chasing all of them at once with sharp steely teeth. It never quite moved outwards, only in a circle. By now all of the crewmembers present had discovered each other.

"Don't you dare hurt Robin-chan or Nami-chan!" Sanji growled, kicking the monster squarely in the jaw. "Where's that swordsman when we need him!"

"Hina-san, a message!" Fullbody called adoringly into Hina's office.

"Not now," Hina said, holding the den den mushi's speaker piece against her shoulder. "Hina is in the middle of a call."

"Ahh, but Hina-san, it's about the sergeant major… we heard something very interesting." Hina spoke into the speaker. "Fullbody found some more news," she said. "Go on," she said to her subordinate.

"We recorded it, Hina-san." Fullbody sat the receiving end of the snail down on the table for Hina to hear.

"Listen, Smoker-kun," Hina said, holding the speaker next to the snail. The transmission began.

"_To… krtz… get me off that island. Now that I think… krtz… about it, it wasn't that great…"_

"_Zoro, I have a feeling. I… feel that way about being onboard your ship. I want to…krtz… stay. It's… a weird feeling, but…krtz… I like it better with your crew than aboard Smoker-kun's ship. I mean, Luffy is krtz clearly a strong-willed captain and he has picked…krtz… remarkable crew members, although I question Nami and Robin's …krtz positions sometimes. I mean, justice is always changing. Mine just changed, and a lot more than you'll ever know."_

"_KRTZ… Luffy likes… krtz… when he likes someone he sticks with them…krtz… insistent that Smoker wants you back as his nakama…"_

"_Smoker-kun's wants aren't mine, though…"_

_KRRRRRRRRRRTZZZZZZZZ_

"_You've got a… krtz…look…krtz…snail…tinier…red…krtz…"_

The transmission ended. Smoker was silent through the den den mushi.

"_They've brainwashed her," _he said after a few moments.

"She has changed, Smoker-kun," Hina insisted. "Tashigi is about as good as a pirate herself."

**Next Time:**

_Robin tilted her head, eyeing the feather sticking out of Tashigi's pocket. "Where did you find that, Tashigi-san?"_

"_Oh," Tashigi said, pulling it from its place and holding it up for the archaeologist to see. "Zoro got it off of one of the huge birds there. Isn't it nice?"_

"_That's one of the 400,000 beri feathers!" Nami cried, pulling at her hair enviously. Zoro pulled his own feather to look at it. "Hm," he said. "That's weird." Robin looked down into her Orange Isle book and smiled secretly._


	9. Tobias

The corpse of a rocklike monster was the first sight to greet Zoro and Tashigi as they came out into the clearing. Sanji had tied it up and was apparently planning on taking it back to the ship to cook up. The whole crew looked like they hadn't broken a sweat taking the monster down.

"What happened?" Zoro asked.

"Where were you when we needed you!" Sanji demanded. "We could've been done here a lot faster!"

"We got lost," Zoro said flatly. "Because the woman can't walk ten feet in the right direction."

"What!" Tashigi exclaimed. "I was following you!" Zoro opened his mouth to argue back when Nami interjected, "Okay, it really doesn't matter. It's hot. Let's go on and try to find the treasure together."

"Wait, what about Luffy?" Tashigi asked, concerned.

"Luffy's fine," Robin answered, smiling lightly, as Nami had already walked off. In silent agreement the group followed. Zoro and Tashigi filed into the back.

"So, when are you going to tell them about your decision?" Zoro asked.

"Well, it's not a decision, yet," Tashigi said. Zoro frowned. "Then hurry up and decide." Tashigi smirked at him. "Is this you wanting me to stay?" she asked, winking.

"No," he said, a light pink tainting his cheeks. "It's me wanting you to stop thinking so hard and choose already."

Meanwhile, Luffy was hot on the trail of the golden baboon, coming right up behind it as they both furiously swung from vine to vine.

"GIVE ME MY HAT BACK!" Luffy yelled, charging after it. But it didn't let down; it kept charging.

"Gomu gomu no…" Luffy started, drawing back his fist. The baboon looked back just in time to hear, "PISTOL!" and to be punched squarely in the face. He fell from the vine and dropped Luffy's hat onto the ground, scampering away. Luffy dropped down next to him, happily setting the hat on top of his head with a wide grin.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled and he turned around to see the monkey creep out again, with a sad frown on its face and big, innocent eyes. Luffy stuck his tongue out at it. Then, he saw a bigger shadow creep out of the forest behind it, followed by another and another… soon he was surrounded by golden-haired monkeys, adults, snarling and growling and baring sharp teeth.

"Hm," Luffy said, remembering the Lapins on Drum Island. Then he leapt upwards, grabbed a vine, and ran (or swung, rather) for his life.

"Hey!" came Sanji's voice. "Nami-swan, I think I found something!"

"Finally," Tashigi muttered, rubbing her eyes tiredly. They all caught up to him and found themselves standing before a huge dip in the earth, where there was something that largely resembled a pile of random sticks and logs, paired with moss and caked with dirt. Creamy white porcelain-looking shards littered the bottom of it, along with an old iron chest set with a deadbolt lock.

"Is there only one chest?" Nami said in disbelief.

"There's a picture of that chest in the book," Robin said. "It's an ancient relic. It'd be the only proof that you made it off Orange Ring Isle, considering that this is the only thing anyone knows has gotten here in the first place."

"Alright," Franky said, "I'll get it." He hopped down into the pit and hauled up the treasure chest to find himself face-to-skull with an old, dried-up skeleton.* There was an awkward moment of staring and then an even more awkward moment when Brook declared simply, "Hm."

"You know, if I didn't know Brook, that would be a lot more creepy," said Franky, pushing the treasure chest up to Sanji, who set it on level ground.

"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed. "That was a good one." No one else seemed to think so. Nami looked down at it and noticed something on the ground next to it.

"Franky, what's that?" she asked. Franky looked down and picked it up, tossing it up to her. "I dunno," he answered. "Looks like an antique or something." Nami looked down at it, squinting. It was a silver case, shaped like a heart and elegantly carved with a molded picture of a rising fire. Robin quickly took it from her. "Nami, this is important," she said. "This belonged to Captain Tobias, an old pirate that was world-famous in his day. The book says he was the sort that robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, though… a nice man on the inside… sort of like Luffy… Anyway, before he had to depart, his sweetheart gave him a silver picture-box to remember her by. It was supposed to remind him to come home."

"But how do you know that it has a picture-…" Nami began, but Robin snapped the box open to show her. On one side was a small, heart-shaped mirror. On the other was a faded photograph of a young girl with medium black hair in the period clothing.

"Oh," Nami said. "That's weird. But why is it so important?"

"Because," Robin said, shaking her head a little, "Tobias later went back for her and brought her here, to this island. She lived for awhile, it was said, because passersby sometimes saw her walking around. But Tobias…" Robin looked for a way to explain, shaking the book as she spoke. "Tobias's treasure was supposedly cursed. Whoever held it had bad luck. No one knew why or how. But Tobias was strong, and he protected the girl. Then one day he decided that he'd had enough of it and went to hide it, to get rid of it for good. While he was trying to do so, he disappeared, never to be found again."

"S-so you're saying that there might a c-curse on that treasure chest!" Usopp demanded, pointing a finger shakily.

"Yes," Robin stated matter-of-factly, "There's a very good possibility."

"We'll be fine," Zoro muttered. "Go ahead and open it."

"Are you crazy!" Tashigi said. "Didn't you hear Robin? It's cursed!" With a smirk Zoro held up Kitetsu just enough so she could recognize it and she fell silent. Usopp began working on the lock and Nami stood with her arms crossed, looking around. Suddenly, Robin tilted her head, eyeing the feather sticking out of Tashigi's pocket. "Where did you find that, Tashigi-san?"

"Oh," Tashigi said, pulling it from its place and holding it up for the archaeologist to see. "Zoro got it off of one of the huge birds there. Isn't it nice?"

"That's one of the 400,000 beri feathers!" Nami cried, pulling at her hair enviously. Zoro pulled his own feather to look at it. "Hm," he said. "That's weird." Robin looked down into her Orange Isle book and smiled secretly. "Quite," she said.

"Why didn't you say so before!" Nami continued angrily.

"What's with that beautiful smile, Robin-chan?" Sanji asked curiously, looking over her shoulder at the book, which, of course, made no sense to him at all. Instead, he looked at the pictures, trying to piece something together. Robin smiled again and flipped the page back, showing him a different set of pictures, and his eye widened and he gaped.

"No way!" he said. "That looks like-…" Before he could finish, Usopp declared, "Okay, the chest is open!" Everyone crowded around the treasure chest, save for Sanji and Robin. Sanji lifted his eyebrow quizzically and Robin winked and put her finger to her lips.

Merry Merry Christmas 3! :D This chapter's a little shorter this time. Please review for meee 3 you can consider it a late Christmas gift! :D Or Hanukkah or Boxing Day or whatever you celebrate :D 3

*Let me know if you read this and went, "Skull joke!" :D

**Next Time…**

"_Tashigi wants to stay! Really!" Luffy asked, grinning. Zoro shushed him, looking around to make sure no one heard._

**And…**

"_Hey, Marimo," Sanji said, tapping Zoro's shoulder lightly. "Didja notice that weird smile Robin was making back at the island?" Zoro nodded lightly._

"_What about it?" he asked. Sanji grinned and held up a leather-bound book. "Wouldn't you like to know."_


	10. Cursed

"WHAAAAT!" Nami screamed, stamping her feet. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING! THIS ISN'T TREASURE! Treasure is supposed to be _glittering_ or _golden_ or _beautiful_! This is… a bunch of paper!" After the lid had been lifted, what had shown itself was an abundance of hardcover books.

"Well, beauty _is_ in the eye of the beholder," Robin said, leaning down and picking up the single piece of paper on the top. "There's a note."

"What's it say?" Nami said, coming behind her. "Is it directions to a better treasure!"

"No," Robin said, sweatdropping. "It says, 'Don't belittle the power of knowledge. With this gold comes death and life, and destiny and fate. The curse upon it brings knowledge of those around you. Never say you know a man until you've seen into his heart.' That's quite a riddle, isn't it."

"THE NOTE SAID GOLD!" Nami declared. She went to the chest and swept out all of the books. At the bottom of the chest was a heaping pile of gold coins. "FINALLY!" she laughed. "Franky, Sanji! To the ship! We're packing up and setting sail again!" The two obliged quickly, ready to leave.

"C-c-curse?" Usopp stuttered, trembling. "I don't think we want a cursed treasure, Nami…"

"Big deal," Zoro muttered. "We're tough enough to handle whatever it is."

As they boarded the ship, they ran into Luffy, who seemed to be hiding.

"Finally," he said quickly, jumping up on deck. "We have to go _now_!"

"What's wrong?" Nami said as Sanji unfurled the sail. "Why are we in such a hurry?" Luffy checked behind them. "Monkeys," he said quietly.

"Monkeys?" Usopp said, scratching his head. Luffy nodded. "Zillions of them."

"Let's go; he might be having hallucinations or something," Robin muttered. They drifted away from the shore, heading towards the horizon calmly.

A little too calmly, in fact.

After they had settled back into things, it was a little late, maybe around four judging by the sun's position. Zoro considered a number of ways to deliver his message to Luffy before deciding on the direct approach. He grabbed Luffy by the wrist and started dragging him across the deck.

"Oi, Zoro, where are we going?" Luffy said. "Are we going on an adventure!"

"Shut up, Luffy," Zoro said. He dragged him into the unused room from chapter three and shut the door. "Listen, you can't tell anyone about this."

"Ooh, a secret!" Luffy said. Zoro rolled his eyes. "Luffy, I think that Tashigi should become a Mugiwara pirate." Luffy's eyes got big, round and sparkly.

"SUGOIIIII!" Zoro clamped a hand over his mouth and shushed him. "Shut up," he hissed. "It's a secret."

"Tashigi wants to stay! Really!" Luffy asked, grinning. Zoro shushed him again, looking around as if to make sure no one heard and was coming to check on them.

"I…. think she does," he nodded. "But I'm not entirely sure, so don't go around telling anyone about it, okay?"

"But why?" Luffy whined. "Everyone likes Tashigi! They'll be glad that she's staying!"

"I'm not so sure about that," Zoro said. "Just… keep your mouth shut." Luffy sighed. "Okay," he muttered.

"Promise?"

"Fine, I promise."

"Good." Zoro opened the door and they went back out on deck. Tashigi was cleaning Shigure and talking to Chopper, who was fascinated with one of her stories. Usopp was on the other side of her, clearly about to react with an outrageous tale of his own. Zoro sat down against the railing, ready for a nap. As he looked up at the sky, he found himself thinking about Kuina again, but Tashigi's picture was pushing hers out of the way; they were battling with each other… Zoro closed his eyes and let the sun warm him.

Meanwhile, Smoker was at a loss. He had one hand constantly running through his hair as he considered the option that chasing after his subordinate would be a complete waste of time; that she no longer wanted anything to do with the Marines. That couldn't be right.

And Hina had sounded so sure of herself. The whole situation presented itself as what looked like a whole big trick. It sounded like Hina was pulling the strings here, that she was putting Tashigi into the wrong position… but why would she need to do that? Nothing made sense anymore.

Smoker looked out the window. The repairs were almost done. His sails were all rolled up. He ached to be on the sea again, even though there was always the constant threat of being pulled under, drowning. He had felt it in Arabasta, shortly before someone had saved him.

Roronoa had saved him.

So why was this… hate there?

Why did he hate them?

Sighing, Smoker considered the den den mushi and then waved it off, not looking forward to Hina's voice coming in through the transceiver. Sometimes her voice calmed him, but now, he needed another voice.

"Tashigi, where are you?"

"Hey, Marimo," Sanji said, tapping Zoro's shoulder lightly. "Didja notice that weird smile Robin was making back at the island?" Zoro nodded lightly.

"What about it?" he asked. Sanji grinned and held up a leather-bound book. "Wouldn't you like to know." Zoro raised his eyebrows. "If it's about the curse, I honestly don't care," he muttered. Sanji's grin extended. Zoro glared. "What is it, Dartboard?"

"Wanna look at this picture?" Sanji flipped the book open to a marked page. "I had Robin-chan translate this all for me so I could read it. Remember the dude Tobias from the curse story? This is him, and the picture next to him is his wife." Zoro took the book boredly and tried to control his eyes from popping out of his head; they only widened slightly as a result. The man on the left, Tobias, had slicked-back hair that was spiked at the end. He was fixed in a bored stare, with a heavy square forehead. On one ear, he wore three earrings. He was in an old-fashioned captain's coat. It could have been Zoro. It was scary how alike they looked.

And the woman… Zoro nearly fainted.

The woman was a dead ringer for Tashigi. Her hair was short and dark, hanging nearly to her shoulders. She had glasses hanging around her neck over an old-fashioned dress. Her face was the same shape, and her eyes were Tashigi and Kuina's. Zoro shuddered, forgetting about Sanji's presence. When the cook began to snicker, Zoro shoved the book back at him. "So what!" he growled.

"There's also a legend in here, Marimo," Sanji said, flipping to the next page. "A long time ago, Tobias came back from one of his pirating adventures with an egg that he brought to the island. This was when he was far younger, before he had met the chick. When he met her, he started to gradually fall in love. By the time he was infatuated, the egg had hatched and a great silver bird had emerged from it. He took one of its feathers and gave it to the woman, asking her to marry him."

"And?" Zoro asked, ignoring the suddenly obvious presence of the silver feather in his pocket. Sanji smirked. "Zoro, haven't you figured it out? Do you realize that by giving her that feather, you proposed to Tashigi?"

"Who cares; it's not like I kn-knew," Zoro said, reddening. Sanji closed the book. "And the curse," he went on. "If you ignore the proposal, you might have an angry ghost captain coming after you."

"I'm not scared of something that isn't real," Zoro said stubbornly. Sanji nodded and held the book up. "It'd be a shame if she found out," he said. "After all, she also gave one to you, did she not?"

"I found my own," Zoro said.

"I think that Tashigi would like to see this."

"No!" Zoro said, a little too loudly. Sanji grinned. "What's the matter, Marimo?"

"Show that book to her and I will kill you," Zoro promised. Sanji could hardly contain his amusement.

"Fine," he said. "I won't say a word, at a price."

"At what price?" Zoro asked. Sanji's eyes glittered mischievously. "Hm," he said.

"How would you like to be my slave for a day?"

**A/N: Whooo chapter 10! :D Yeah, yeah, I know I rushed them getting off the island, but it's really annoying when you dig them into a situation and then have to take forever getting them out, so… yeah. You'll hear more about the proposal next time.**

** Speaking of Next Time…**

"_**Tashigi-chan," Robin said. She beckoned her closer. "I have to tell you something."**_


	11. Ghost

I-I can explain!

I'm so sorry…. It's been like six months or more since I've updated, hasn't it? Five? I don't even know T.T…

Anyway, my computer's had like three viruses on it since then because I attract them. No, honestly…. Then I just forgot about it when it got fixed, then I retyped it on another computer, lost my flash, messed up the computer AGAIN... Again, I apologize! I don't even know what chapter I'm on! I think it's 10 or 11…. *facepalm*

"Poor Nami," Tashigi observed.

"Why '_poor_' Nami?" Zoro snorted, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back against the railing, lifting his head to look at the clouds. "She expected too much gold. No one ever said the treasure was a big fortune…"

"There was gold, but not enough," Tashigi pointed out, adjusting her glasses. "I guess she thought it was too much trouble. And she was so angry about the books, too- though Robin seemed to find them accommodating."

"Well, duh. She's Robin." Zoro offered this as a blunt response and Tashigi rolled her eyes and drew out the silvery feather from her pocket and stroked it with a finger, sighing. "Do you think I should sell it?" she asked. "I need a little extra money, but it's so nice."

"Why would you want to keep that?" Zoro scoffed, trying to hide the blush slowly creeping up to his cheeks. "I hope you don't plan on getting souvenirs at every island we stop at."

"C'mon, Zoro, it's pretty," Tashigi said.

"Now I'm _really_ gonna sell it. Have you made a decision about staying yet?"

"SSSSHHH!" Tashigi said quickly, leaping forward into his lap and covering his mouth with her hands. "It's not a for-sure thing yet! I don't want Luffy hearing!"  
"Relax," Zoro muttered, pushing her hands out of the way. "Jeez. You're so jumpy."

"Am I interrupting something, Swordsman-kun?" Robin's silky voice effectively parted Zoro and Tashigi as they blushed and stammered, trying to offer an explanation. Robin smirked and waved them off. "Really, am I interruping?"

"What do you want, Robin?" Zoro muttered.

"Tashigi-chan," Robin said. She beckoned her closer. "I have to tell you something." Tashigi looked at Zoro skeptically and then stood up and followed Robin. As they left they passed Sanji, who was making his way towards Zoro. A quite evil smirk moved onto his face as he got closer to the swordsman.

"Something you wanted to talk about, Robin?" Tashigi asked as Robin closed the door to the girls' room behind her.

"Did you hear about what those feathers mean?" Robin pointed at the feather Tashigi was still holding. Tashigi looked down at it and then back up at Robin, tilting her head to the side. "It's supposed to mean something?" she asked.

"It's not just for show," Robin said, nodding. "You remember the legend about Tobias, the old pirate captain on Orange Ring Isle, buried the treasure, and all that, correct?"  
"Yes..." Robin reached under her arm and brought out a heavy leather book, flipping its pages expertly to a certain picture. She showed Tashigi the portrait of Captain Tobias and his wife and Tashigi went stark white.

"Ummm, Robin?"

"Yes, Tashigi-chan."

"Tell me Usopp painted this..."

"I'm afraid not."

"But..."

"According to the legend, if you give someone one of those silvery feathers as Zoro handed one to you, it means you're then engaged to be married. They say if you don't follow through with it, you're haunted by a ghost." Tashigi's dark hair fell into her eyes, masking her face.

"Robin?" she said meekly.

"Yes; what is it?" Tashigi looked up to show a big puppy dog pout. "That's not fair at all!" Robin smiled slightly. "Ah, I see. Still in love with Smoker."

"Of course I- ah?" she stopped, slowly processing the thought, and then shook her head wildly. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! That's not it at all! It's just-!"

"It's just...?" Robin prodded, leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed. Tashigi looked down into her lap. "It's just that love is supposed to be spontaneous and real. Some random situation like this isn't romantic at all. It just makes everything much more difficult!" Robin leaned her cheek into her hand thoughtfully.

"Hm," she said. "You don't think that a sudden marriage like this is spontaneous?"

"Robin, I'm not kidding; I'm serious! And I'm not marrying Zoro because some old book told me to!"

"Well, if you want to be haunted by a ghost, that's none of my business," Robin smirked. Tashigi crossed her arms over her chest and exhaled. "I'm not Usopp, Robin. Ghost stories don't scare me." She made her way for the door and Robin watched her, smiling into her hand. "Ghost stories don't scare you, huh? We'll see."

"I can't believe this," Zoro muttered, putting his back into scrubbing the kitchen floor. "I'll kill Sanji for this." Luffy then entered the kitchen. Noticing Zoro's position on the floor, he knelt down next to him. "Hey, Zoro!"

"What do you want!"

"Is Sanji making you clean the floor?"

"No. I'm doing this because I like cleaning the floor," Zoro said sarcastically.

"Oh, really? That's a weird thing to like... it's more like a chore than a hobby..."

"Luffy, get out of here."

"Okay, see you later, Zoro!"

"... I hate being surrounded by idiots." As Luffy walked out, Sanji walked in, eyeing Zoro's progress.

"Having fun, moss head?" he asked, stepping around him to get to the stove. Zoro didn't answer and chose to take out his anger on the dirty floor.

"So, engaged to be married, are you," Sanji went on. "Can't complain about the girl, but I feel sorry for _her_. Having to live with you and cleaning up your lack of hygiene, dealing with your laziness and your sleeping all the time, having to cook for that bottomless pit you call a stomach."

"Tashigi would _kill you_ if she heard that," Zoro said. "She hates it when men assume all women cook and clean for their husbands." Sanji chose to ignore this part. He didn't like thinking that a woman disliked him. After all, he was the biggest ladies' man on the high seas.

"You do know that there's a legend about being haunted by a ghost, should you not marry her," Sanji said.

"Yeah, and what about it?" Zoro responded, crossing his arms. "I don't believe in ghosts." Sanji shrugged his shoulders and lit a cigarette.

"Scrub the floor, marimo." He kicked the back of Zoro's head. "Don't let me catch you slacking off again."

A loud crash interrupted Usopp's tinkering. He jolted upright and dropped the hammer he'd been holding. He went to the door and opened it, looking both ways down the hall. He stepped out of the room and peered into the room across the hall from his. Finding nothing, he waved it off as his imagination playing tricks on him and turned to go back to his room when he saw a chalk-white figure standing in the doorway. His jaw dropped and his eyes enlarged. He croaked for a few moments in disbelief before catching his breath and hightailing it out of there, screaming at the top of his lungs as he dashed to where Franky had put the loudspeaker. He grabbed it in both hands and yelled into it as loud as he could.

"_**GHOOOOOOOOOSSSTTTTT!"**_

_Next Time:_

"_D-do you believe in ghosts, Zoro?" Tashigi grinned nervously. "I-it's dumb, isn't it? Ghosts... haha..."_

_Zoro rolled his eyes and looked over at her. "If you're scared, just say so."_

"_N-no, it'll be alright... I mean... you're here, aren't you?"_


	12. Hunt

**A/N: *Bon-chan's voice* BONJOUR!~ I'm very sorry, very sorry! The time gets away from me! But never mind that… it's time for an update and I have been reading up on other One Piece fanfics and getting myself into the spirit! XD**

**Happy 3 Days After Thanksgiving. I am thankful for all my loving, patient followers of my fanfics.**

**Here is your update, which was intended for Halloween. ^-^"**

"WE'RE GOING ON A GHOST HUNT!" Luffy fist-pumped and promptly leapt onto the dining table. "Who's with me!"

"N-now, Luffy, I think I have contracted a rare case of, um… 'can't-go-on-a-ghost-hunt' syndrome…" Usopp stuttered, waving his hands. "Really, it was a creepy-looking thing! We don't need to come in contact with that!"

"The undead would give me such goosebumps- if I only had skin! YOHOHOHOHO!"

The noise in the background was honestly very irritating. Tashigi sighed, covering her aching head with her hands. "This is ridiculous."

"Tashigi-chan," Robin said. Tashigi looked up and she beckoned her closer. "I have to tell you something."

"Yes? What is it?" Tashigi asked, coming round to Robin's side of the table.

"You should probably look at this later, if you get a chance," Robin said, handing her a rolled-up newspaper. Tashigi raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to ask about the paper when a whine broke her off.

"It's not a good idea, Luffy! You heard Usopp, he said it was a really scary ghost!" Chopper whined.

"ENOUGH!" Nami yelled, slamming her hands on the table. "There's no ghosts aboard this ship. Get that idea out of your head right now, all of you! Now, Usopp, start over. What exactly did you see?"

"I-it was a figure, about as tall as Zoro," Usopp said, making many irrelevant gestures with his hands. "It was pale, starch white and didn't have much of a form at all…. It was just floating there, and it… it had the infamous Glare of Death! As it brandished its horrible weapon at me, I was encouraged-nay, FORCED- to flee, being helplessly without a weapon myself! It defeated even the Great Captain Usopp!"

"So basically, he saw something white and ran away from it," Nami muttered as Usopp continued to spew nonsense while Chopper huddled, amazed and terrified, next to him.

"Even so, shouldn't we investigate?" Tashigi piped up timidly, raising a hand. "In case there's something on the ship that Usopp mistook for a ghost, shouldn't we?"

"It's probably nothing," Zoro began, and Luffy cut in, "YOSH! Good idea, Tashigi! Here, you can help!" Without warning he ran from the room, grabbing Tashigi's wrist on the way and pulling her out of her seat and after him.

"Luffy, wait!" Nami yelled, frustrated. Robin chuckled to herself, calmly turning a page in the book she was reading.

"Hey, Luffy! Get your hands off her!" Sanji yelled, running after them. Zoro watched the exchange with a sigh and got up, muttering, "I guess I'll go too." He soon disappeared from the room as well. The only sound in the room was Usopp's constant chattering in the background.

"Hey," Nami said suddenly, looking around. "Where's Franky…?"

(linebreak)

"Luffy, where are we going!"

"To find the ghost, Tashigi!" Luffy grinned, dragging the marine down the hall with him. Tashigi fumbled to keep her glasses on, her hair askew and Shigure bumping her hip wildly.

"But Usopp's workshop is the other way!" she cried, and Luffy stopped.

"Ohhh! Hehe. Okay!" He dashed in the other direction instead. Upon arriving at their destination, they came across Sanji, who had gone to the workshop first, and Zoro, who had attempted following them downstairs.

"Oi, Zoro! You got lost again?" Luffy giggled. Zoro rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk, _captain_."

"Shut up, both of you," Sanji demanded, taking Tashigi's hand. "Are you alright, my dear? Luffy didn't contaminate you with those filthy hands of his, did he?"

"She should be even _more_ worried about _you_, swirly brow," Zoro cut in.

"Oh, _really_, Marimo?"

"_Really_."

"I'll make you eat those words!"

"I'll make you eat this blade!"

"BRING IT, RORONOA!"

"STOP!" Tashigi said, moving her body in between them as a barrier. She threw her arms out to either side and glared at the two of them. "We're supposed to be looking around for a ghost slash intruder. You can fight later."

"Hai, Tashigi-chan! Anything for you!~"

"Whatever," Zoro muttered.

"LET'S GO!" Luffy said. He charged at the door, swinging it open ferociously. "ALRIGHT GHOST, COME ON OUT!" (Un)surprisingly, there was no answer. The workshop was clear of all signs of life and undead, littered with Usopp's various tools and unfinished projects. The silence was even and ringing. Luffy huffed and crossed his arms. "That doesn't make sense. Why would a ghost come out and then just disappear again?" Zoro came in after him, looking around at the junked-up tables and work benches. "We told you, Luffy, there's nothing down here at all. It's all just your imagination."

"Ne, Zoro, haven't you ever heard of imagination _coming to life_?" Luffy said, waving his arms.

"That's impossible," Zoro muttered, rolling his eyes. Tashigi watched the exchange with little interest and turned her head to look at Sanji, who had suddenly fallen silent. Her brows drew closer together and she placed a hand on the back of Zoro's shoulder.

"Ne, Zoro… Where did Sanji-kun go?"

"Probably to get us some food to help out on the ghost hunt!" Luffy said matter-of-factly. Zoro turned as well, ignoring his captain to see what Tashigi was talking about. The hall was completely empty. There was no sign of Sanji- not his voice or footsteps, at least. The faint smell of cigarettes lingered in the air.

"I only turned around for a few seconds," Tashigi said, concern rising as she adjusted her glasses. "You don't suppose…?"

"If there were a dangerous intruder on board, we would have heard Sanji," Zoro muttered. His hand gripped Wadou's hilt all the same. Luffy shivered excitedly. "I'm getting goosebumps!"

Tashigi drew Shigure and kept it close to her side as they exited the empty workshop and began to explore the lower part of the ship. All seemed much darker now and the lingering smell of cigarettes began to grow stronger and stronger.

"Gah, ero-cook must be down here still," Zoro said, waving a hand in front of his nose and mouth. "I can barely breathe…"

"Tashigi doesn't seem bothered by it!" Luffy pointed out.

"Hm? Well, growing up in the Marines next to Smoker… I guess all that just made me used to it," Tashigi chuckled. They came out to find Robin sitting at the dining table, still reading. She smiled and lifted an eyebrow at them. "So, did you find the so-called 'ghost'?" she inquired.

"There was nothing down there but junk in Usopp's workroom," Zoro said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Just like I said in the first place… there's no one here."

"Ah, I see," Robin said with a secretive smile. She glanced up from a dog-eared page and tilted her head. "Did you, by any chance, happen to see Franky while you were down there? It seems he's disappeared. No one can find him."

"No one was down there at all," Tashigi said, sheathing Shigure carefully. "We did smell Sanji smoking before we came up here, but that was it."

"Didn't Sanji follow you to help investigate?" Robin asked.

"He disappeared!" Luffy interrupted.

"Disappeared? My, how mysterious. Do you think-" Robin was cut off by a huge crash from the other end of the ship.

(LINE :D)

Smoker watched as the docks faded far, far away into the distance. His new sails picked up the wind and flashed his insignia proudly as they were whisked further and further from the shore. Their departure was surprisingly quiet and peaceful.

"Sir!" As usual, an annoying random marine broke the peace, coming to stand by Smoker's side and giving an exaggerated salute. "We thought you should see this, sir!" He unfurled the day's paper, dropping it before Smoker's eyes. When the print came into focus, Smoker's eyes shot wide open and he snatched the paper away, rounding on the marine. "Where did you get this!"

"I-it's just the day's newspaper, sir!" the marine quivered, leaning away. "It all comes from marine intelligence-"

"Get Hina on the phone!" Smoker bellowed. He tore the paper in two and threw it over the railing, clenching his hands into shaking fists. "She will pay for this!"


End file.
